Located in Scottsdale, Arizona, Closet & Storage Concepts’ first showroom-only model uses a fellow franchisee in Longmont, Colorado, to manufacture its product orders, opening up a new revenue stream for that location.
The showroom-only concept also is driven by consumers.
Consumers really want to see those products live, Lewis says.
“It’s not enough to be an in-home sales model anymore.
Plus, there are so many different ;nish options now. We offer
approximately three dozen ;nishes on a standard basis. Not
to mention all of the different options in thermofoil doors
and drawer fronts, different styles of those products and all of
the various accessories. They’ve evolved the accessories part
of the business so much that it is just not possible to show
everything we can do to a consumer in an in-home sales set-
ting like we used to. We really need to have that showroom if
you are going to participate in the entire industry now. That’s
really the message, and if you are going to meet the consum-
ers on their terms, you need to be in that model.”
Lewis acknowledges that there are pros and cons of both
models. With the manufacturing concept you are able to
control your own destiny as well as your own schedule, he
says. And if you design or measure something incorrectly
or you have a part that doesn’t ;t, it’s a lot easier to make a
replacement part very quickly if you have your own shop. But
the ;ip side of that structure is that it requires more capital
and labor costs, he says. “And if there is another economic
downturn, and God forbid we ever have another one like the
Great Recession, you can’t lay a machine off. If you’ve got
those machines and they are not operating on a full schedule,
you’re spending money that you are not getting a return on.
“We work hard to help our franchisees succeed, and that’s
one of the keys to the company’s overall growth,” Lewis adds.
On August 23 Lewis will share his experiences building and
growing a successful brand and company during an all-day
panel discussion at the 2016 IWF Closets Symposium, which
will be held during the International Woodworking Fair in
Atlanta, Georgia, at the Georgia World Congress Center (see
page 29 for more info). closetandstorageconcepts.com
