The Colony, Texas—Top executives from Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) and Shaw Industries gathered here this week to celebrate the grand reopening of its 1.8 million-square-foot mega-store in this suburb of Dallas. Originally opened in 2015, the grand reopening features enhancements throughout the sprawling 560,000-square foot showroom. A key highlight being the unveiling of the third Shaw Anso Gallery, the curated retail flooring concept from Shaw Floors.
“It was kind of shocking to realize that it was just four years ago we opened our very first Anso Gallery in Omaha, Neb.,” David Chambers, director of flooring, NFM, said in his opening remarks to attendees. “We saw an opportunity to create something different. We wanted to create a distinct destination where a consumer shopping for carpet could find an area that was more inspiring and easier to shop and navigate and, more importantly, had products and features that resonated with the consumer today. The response from our consumers exceeded our expectations in Omaha, which allowed us to then take the concept to our Kansas City market. Now we’re bringing the next generation of the Anso Gallery to our customers here in Dallas-Fort Worth.”
The 3,500-square-foot Anso Gallery—the standard footprint for the galleries in Omaha and Kansas City—is much more than an assemblance of Shaw’s top-selling carpet brands, according to Chambers. “As you walk the showroom today, you’ll see more than just carpet fixtures; you’ll see a thoughtfully designed shopping experience where consumers can visualize, compare and really shop with confidence about carpet,” he said.
Like the two prior Anso Gallery locations, this latest installation represents the culmination of collaboration and partnership between NFM and Shaw Industries—companies that share a common connection with Berkshire Hathaway, the parent company. That was a key point of emphasis by Benjamin Liebert, president, Shaw residential, in his remarks to attendees.
“Thank you, David, for your partnership, and thank you for pushing us to be better,” Liebert said. “We really appreciate where we’re going. I think this is a great product of that.”
Liebert also acknowledged Tony Boldt, NFM president and CEO, as well as scores of NFM managers and associates. “Thank you, Tony, for your leadership and your trust, and to the entire NFM team for your trust in our brands. Thank you for allowing us to really invade and take over your showroom with these great products and brands. We’re very excited about the opportunity to work with you.”
Liebert also took the opportunity to recognize Shaw team members. “Thanks to our Shaw leaders, whether that be in sales or in marketing. And most importantly, our VPs and our territory managers who make it happen every day—the ‘last three feet’—and support the NFM team here. Thanks for being here and thanks for all your support.”
More importantly, Liebert stressed the importance of the true meaning of partnership. “To have a great partnership, you have to truly understand one another,” he said. “That means we have to understand NFM’s strategy and what they’re trying to bring to life with their customers. Similarly, they have to understand where we see the business going and where we would like to be. The best partners debate that, they challenge that. I think Dave and his team do a great job of really challenging us to be better every day. That’s the first tenant of a great partnership.”
Lessons learned
The Colony Anso Gallery is not just a carbon copy of the existing Shaw showrooms within NFM. Rather, it incorporates enhancements based in lessons learned from the previous locations.
“With each Anso gallery we have opened, we have had the opportunity to learn, improve and refine the experience,” Boldt stated. “From Omaha to Kansas City, and now here in The Colony, we continue to enhance the fixtures, layout and overall presentation to make this space even better for our customers.”
Part of that entailed tweaking the overall product mix since the first Anso Gallery showroom was unveiled. “We went pretty heavy with Pet Perfect in Omaha, but since then we’ve balanced Anso and Pet Perfect—that was a good learning lesson,” Chambers said. “We’ve also learned how consumers want to see how stairs are going to look with products. Another lesson we’ve learned is patterns have to be displayed in larger samples. The trick is showcasing these large samples without having these tall walls blocking sightlines throughout the department. That led us to create our Luxe display.”
But perhaps the biggest lesson learned, according to Carolyn Haicl, senior vice president, marketing and brands, Shaw, was that you don’t have to inundate the customer with product to seal the deal. “We learned how to offer fewer SKUs so it’s not so overwhelming to the customer,” she said. “It’s about displaying the products that matter, finding that right balance and helping RSAs walk customers through the benefits. It’s just an easier process and hopefully easier for the consumer to make a decision.”
(Look for more on this story in an upcoming edition of FCNews.)