Two, three maybe four times a week, we find ourselves discussing on-line business as we visit your stores.  These conversations are beginning to show some evolution as more and more consumers “get their feet wet” with the experience.  One of the most interesting trends we see are the number of times the discussion turns to consumer dissatisfaction with their purchase(s), especially in certain product categories.  Buying airplane tickets, hotel rooms or printer cartridges on-line is quite different than buying furniture.  It obviously relates to the guesswork that goes into purchasing – especially seating – furniture that most on-line buyers never…

The use of rechargeable batteries to power electronic motion furniture has morphed to constantly increasing levels every time we study the numbers.  Not only do these handy little accessories eliminate the need for close proximity electrical outlets, they provide ideal back up in the event of a power outage.  We anticipate this trend will continue as we approach 75% of all our motion furniture now shipping as power product. However, we see a need to further educate Retail Sales Associates and consumers as to realistic anticipated battery life – the time between overnight charges.  When we first began providing batteries…

Dealers, It’s no secret that video is the current medium. To take advantage of our resources and capitalize on the ease of video communication, Best has put together a series of quick informative videos to SHOW you those procedures. Its really much better than sending you long prose style instructions on some basic troubleshooting and repair procedures…or worse yet try to verbally dictate them… Follow the links below: How to Remove and Install a Recliner Back How to Install an Inside Handle on a Recliner MechHow to Convert a Rocker Recliner to a Swivel Rocker ReclinerHow to Replace a Recliner…

In my years traveling, probably some unimaginable number of millions of miles by car, I’ve never been involved in an accident.  But I’ve had enough close calls that I just DON’T text or email while I drive.  Let me clarify….I have voice activated texting.  Once I learned which little microphone icon to touch, I discovered if I speak slowly and ah-nun-c-ate, it never misses.  If I’m miles from nowhere, smooth, straight road, no cars anywhere – as in so far ahead or behind that they couldn’t see me swerve, I might send off a quick one.  In town, near home,…

On my last long trip through the territory before the High Point Market, I was visiting one of our many great retail dealers just for a casual hello and check in. As I sat and chatted with the owner and three floor sales associates, a regular customer familiar to all of them walked in the door, a lady, mid-forties, very pleasant. They all greeted her by first name. I was impressed they all knew her and they all made her feel welcomed and appreciated. She had been shopping for a high-top table with six chairs and was now officially a…

As long-time Best Home Furnishings dealers, many of you are acclimated to our familiar prompt to enter a minimum of three seats for any single order. Whether it’s three chairs, three recliners, a sofa, a loveseat and a chair, or a slight modification of “three”(two chairs and two ottomans) entering three will ensure that you pay the lowest possible shipping cost per seat on a small order. Best’s pre-paid freight program is designed to accommodate a variety of order sizeswithout penalizing a dealer on those occasions when you just need several pieces. We can’t overcome the reality of today’s transit…

We are experiencing what feels like an unprecedented period of turmoil in the furniture business. Manufacturers are grappling with policy related supply chain challenges and sourcing limitations, domestic labor shortages, and a reeling logistics industry. Retailers are wading through the murky waters of a generational transition in buying power in the United States, as Generation X (and older millennials) slides into prime purchasing years and the Baby Boomers retire and downsize. The rise of e-commerce as a trade medium has brick-and-motor’s scrambling to retain business. Etc Etc Etc…. AND YET! Amidst all these challenges, a nimble domestic manufacturer, like Best,…

When discussing customer service philosophy with most independent retailers, they go all in. They worry that a dissatisfied customer will tell their next-door neighbor, their nearby relatives, people in line at Walmart, Safeway, Total Wine or the Lexus dealership… They may want their business protocol to be well known to everyone as comparable to Costco or other major retailers who will just blindly take back anything, justified or not. Consider a HALT to this thinking. Lots of great Americans look at their neighbors, relatives and/or acquaintances as a good resource for info….or maybe not. Costco can demand their suppliers take…

In an effort to increase our value to you, our customers, we are embarking on a strange venture for furniture sales reps….we’re becoming bloggers. In a fast-paced world of instant feedback, social media, and a proliferation of digital communication platforms, we’ve decided to jump onboard. We’ll be periodically delivering information to you on a variety of topics, from product updates, to marketing ideas, to customer service tutorials. Our sincere hope is that you’ll find our posts to be informative, entertaining, and most of all effective in increasing your business.  Without any more unnecessary fanfare, we’re going to kick things off…