Every two weeks, FCNews seeks out flooring retailers across the country to offer their advice on hot topics of the day. This week, we asked: What concerns you: mortgage rates or tariffs?
Here are their responses:
“Thankfully our store traffic has not taken a hit. However, the consumer spending habits have. Consumers are much more price-driven than in the past. We are currently exploring tactics to navigate this recent shift. We have kept our foot on the marketing gas and are looking to engage more with the design community.”
— Matt Wien, Marshall Flooring, Mayfield Heights, Ohio
“We have increased our advertising with TV, radio and over-the-top service. This has been very helpful during our grand-opening sale and promoting a new showroom. The sale certainly has inspired consumers to purchase. The looming tariffs also can be used as a great closing tool to be able to buy at current prices.”
— Deb DeGraaf, DeGraaf Interiors, Grand Rapids, Mich.
“We moved our Made in America sale period to between March and mid-April instead of February to catch more potential tax-return buyers. This sale usually does very well for us and gets a lot of traction. We also contracted with a social media company and moved an employee to outside sales and networking.”
— Typhannie Harker, Carpeting by Mike, Somerset, Wis.
“We have been sending out monthly flyers for new homeowners in three adjacent counties and have been advertising live on our local radio station, concentrating on our new expanded product lines. We have also seen a big difference with our new exterior shades we now offer.”
— Don Cantor, Lake Interiors, Chelan, Wash.
“We run a three-day, 20% off sale. It starts on Thursday, ends on Saturday at 1 p.m. We usually get really good response, especially when we do an email blast to our existing customers and hit the local paper and local radio.”
— Bob Duke, Floor Magic, Damariscotta, Maine
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