Customer-Centric City Furniture Continues Rapid Growth; New Delivery System, Finance Programs & Manufacturing Plant On Tap For 2003.Business/Photo Editors NOTE TO MEDIA: Multimedia assets available A photo is available at URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. : http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/photo.cgi?pw.112902/bb3 TAMARAC, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 2002 As Keith Koenig Keith Koenig is the current President of the City Furniture Corporation. He and his brother started this company in 1994. He received both his Bachelors and Masters in Business Administration from the University of Florida. He is an advisor to the Warrington College of Business. walks the aisles of City Furniture's massive 660,000 square foot distribution center, his vision of the future is bolstered by a successful formula developed in the not-so-distant past. "We started out with a single waterbed waterbed A bed with a water-filled mattress that may have therapeutic currency Neonatology Oscillating waterbeds in preterm infants provide compensatory movement stimulation, ↓ uncomplicated apnea of prematurity, with ↑ quiet sleep, ↓ crying, store, with just 800 square feet of floor space in 1971," Koenig said, looking out at a facility that could house 11 football fields. "The reason we're here today is pretty simple--we've stayed focused on making furniture shopping a fun, hassle-free experience for customers. "If we stay innovative on the customer service front, we'll continue to grow." Growth has become a way of life for the south Florida furniture retailer, which has seen sales increase more than 500 percent in the last six years. City Furniture's 14 locations in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties will collectively top $220 million in sales this year, and the chain has been named National Furniture Retailer of the Year in 2001 and 2002. So what does Koenig have "in store" for customers now? City Furniture will roll out a state-of-the-art, same-day delivery service that's on call seven days a week. "A few stores can offer same-day delivery if you get the order in before noon, and all the planets line up right," Koenig said. "We want to have a system in place that if a customer orders furniture five minutes before closing at 9 p.m. on a Saturday night, that we can deliver it that night. "People work during the day, and we want to fit into their schedule, not make them fit into ours." Koenig also plans to expand the company's flexible finance programs, which have been growing in popularity. City Furniture partnered with GE Consumer Finance to create a high-tech credit system. "Working with GE to develop this technology has been great," Koenig said. "With other companies, you fill out forms, have to fax them somewhere and wait for an approval. The system we developed with GE Consumer Finance is completely electronic. Any of our associates can swipe a customer's driver's license Noun 1. driver's license - a license authorizing the bearer to drive a motor vehicle driver's licence, driving licence, driving license license, permit, licence - a legal document giving official permission to do something , plug in one or two pieces of data, and get an approval within 60 seconds. "It's a critical part of the package for us," Koenig said. "Instantly giving customers more purchasing power Purchasing Power 1. The value of a currency expressed in terms of the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. Purchasing power is important because, all else being equal, inflation decreases the amount of goods or services you'd be able to purchase. 2. is great for everyone, and has helped us grow. I think we're one of the only furniture retailers in the country with this type of system." But just delivering and financing the goods isn't good enough. City Furniture will also start making its own furniture. Koenig is building a 65,000-square-foot plant on a 10-acre site in New Albany New Albany, city (1990 pop. 36,322), seat of Floyd co., S Ind., near the falls of the Ohio River opposite Louisville, Ky.; inc. 1819. The city was a shipbuilding center in the 19th cent., and the riverboats Robert E. Lee and Eclipse were built there. , Miss. The new manufacturing company, Kevin Charles Upholstery upholstery, general term for household fittings, hangings, curtains, cushions, and covers. It refers to stuffed, padded, and spring-cushioned furniture, such as chairs and sofas, or to the usually decorative materials and fabrics that cover them. , is named after Keith's late brother Kevin Koenig, who started the company with that small waterbed store 31 years ago. "We're excited about the opportunity to manufacture and market our own furniture," Koenig said, adding that the new venture will be headed up by former La-Z-Boy/Hickory Mark executive Rusty rust·y adj. rust·i·er, rust·i·est 1. Covered with rust; corroded. 2. Consisting of or produced by rust. 3. Of a yellowish-red or brownish-red color. 4. Berryhill. "We can ensure high quality, but more importantly, deliver exactly what our customers want." About City Furniture: Founded in 1971 as Waterbed City, with a single store in Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale (lô`dərdāl), residential, commercial, and resort city (1990 pop. 149,377), seat of Broward co., SE Fla., on the Atlantic coast; settled around a fort built (c.1837) in the Seminole War, inc. 1911. , City Furniture has grown to become south Florida's premiere home furnishings furnishings the extra type or quantity of hair on the head, tail, ears or legs, specified for a particular breed. For example, the feathers in setters, the beard in Bearded collies, the eyebrows in Schnauzers. retailer. City Furniture's corporate headquarters is in Tamarac, Fla., with 14 showroom locations in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties. About GE Consumer Finance: GE Consumer Finance is a unit of General Electric Company. With $73 billion in assets, the company is a leading provider of credit services to consumers, retailers and auto dealers in more than 35 countries around the world. GE Consumer Finance, based in Stamford, Conn., offers a range of financial products, including private label credit cards, personal loans, bank cards, auto loans and leases, mortgages, corporate travel and purchasing cards A Purchasing Card is a form of company credit card that allows goods and services to be procured without utilising a traditional purchasing process. Purchasing Cards are usually issued to employees who are required to operate within a set of company rules and guidelines which , debt consolidation and home equity loans and credit insurance. GE (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : GE) is a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with operations worldwide. More information about GE can be found online at www.ge.com. Note: A photo is available at URL: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/photo.cgi?pw.112902/bb3 |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion