| |
|
 
Originally printed in Furniture Interiors Magazine
USA BABY is a leading retailer of a selection of baby and youth furniture.
As long as babies are being born, USA BABY – the No. 1 franchiser of baby furniture and accessories, should have no problem
remaining successful. Statistics indicate that every day, 10,000 babies are born in the United States, so that should keep the
company busy.
“We consider ourselves an infant and children's furniture store---that’s been our bread and butter,” says President Alan Levine.
"Births have maintained themselves for the most part. Sometimes they go up, but generally speaking, the birthrate is steady and
so is our business."
But what happens when babies outgrow their furniture? ThatÂ’s exactly what USA BABY asked itself when it decided to pursue the
“big kids” market with its ChildSpace Program.
“Our growth is focused not so much on babies, but the majority of growth that is in the ages three to 15,” Levine says. “We
developed a gallery within our store called ChildSpace, for big kidsÂ’ furniture. We are incorporating ChildSpace within each
store. WeÂ’re building and growing upon the division every day."
USA BABY also is interested in developing stand-alone ChildSpace because, Levine says, the market is huge. "First, we donÂ’t
intend to compete without our own stores,” Levine explains.
“Existing franchises will take advantage of the ChildSpace program as a natural extension of their USA BABY business. It will
include the same salespeople, the same accounting system, the same delivery and, essentially, the same customers."
“As children outgrow their cribs, they move into a bunk bed, for example,” he continues. “We will sell the same customer again
three, five or ten years later.”
Getting Franchisees on Track
USA BABYÂ’s 65 stores are located in major metropolitan areas in the United States and Mexico. Levine says franchise
opportunities exist in regions where the population base is a minimum of 750,000.
“Stores are limited to the size of the market,“ he says. “When we find people who are interested in owning a franchise, they
may have to consider relocation to where thereÂ’s an opportunity."
Levine says what makes USA BABYÂ’s franchisee operation unique is that itÂ’s the only real brand name in baby furniture for
specialty stores. He says USA BABYÂ’s competitors are either made up of fragmented mom-and-pop stores or mass merchants.
Of course, customer service can make a huge difference in new parentsÂ’ shopping experience. As Levine explains, brand new
franchise owners go through several weeks of training at the companyÂ’s headquarters in Lombard, Illinois. The process consists
of approximately two weeks of onsite training in accounting, sales, purchasing, display and more.
“Next, we send someone to do basic product knowledge and sales training,” he continues. “At that point, we have trained the
franchisee, but not the employees, so thatÂ’s next. Once that is done, we start our promotion and ads for the franchisee. We do
all of the advertising for them--the system works well.”
Employee knowledge is what Levine says truly distinguishes it from mass merchants, specialty stores, online stores and
mom-and-pop stores. “We’re mostly competing with mass merchants such as Toys “R” Us, but we offer better service,” Levine
claims. “Our employees are not gum-chewing kids--these are trained people who’ve been in the business a long time and pride
themselves on product knowledge."
“When a consumer is having their first baby, they want to learn as much as they can,” he continues. “In this information age,
people donÂ’t want to be sold, they want to be informed, so we try to give then all the information they need if they have
concerns or questions, we have the answers.”
E-Commerce Challenges
Levine claims USA BABY did the right thing by resisting the once-popular notion that e-commerce would take over bricks and
mortar. But the company hasnÂ’t altogether ignored the need for an e-commerce presence in addition to franchise stores.
“Today, we understand e-commerce more and we have a plan in place to utilize it,” Levine says. “We understand the value in
creating an e-program that is compatible with bricks and mortar. For example, offering baby shower registries are a very
important part of our business. We know our customers want to be able to tell their friends and family to look online at what
they want. That way, a customer can see whatÂ’s available and if they want to buy it right then and there, they can."
“It’s my understanding that the successful e-commerce sites have brand recognition through their bricks and mortar, not just Web
sites that are built overnight,” he adds. “We are on the cusp of going live with our e-commerce business. In addition to
online registries, weÂ’ll be able to take customers to an in-store kiosk to view items that we donÂ’t have in stock, order them
online, and ship them overnight.”
Unique Incentives
Money is on everyoneÂ’s mind these days, but consider the family that finds out its expecting twins. USA BABYÂ’s twin policy
incentive helps parents save money by offering them 10 percent off the duplicate item purchased.
“The twin policy is a promotional thing we do,“ Levine says. “We found that customers find it’s a small phenomenon when they
discover theyÂ’re having more than one child. Money is important because everything is twice as much, from milk to diapers and
so on. Our goal is to try to help them in the furniture department."
USA BABY also offers a low-price guarantee, because Levine feels customers should feel confident that theyÂ’ve received the best
value available. “Our pricing is very competitive,” he says. "Consumers have many options as to where they buy furniture, and we
want to make sure they aren’t wondering if they got the lowest price. We’re confident that our price is lowest.”
USA BABYÂ’s Future
Currently, childrenÂ’s furniture is a $6 billion, sold-growth market that is considered to be one of the 13 fastest-growing
industries through 2005. USA BABY is certainly a benchmark in the industry as it has been ranked among the top 100 furniture
stores for 10 consecutive years, and was voted No. 1 in its category by Entrepreneur Magazine.
As Levine looks back on the company that he founded in 1972, he says he feels lucky to have started the business with nothing
and built a 65-store franchise operation.
“At one point, my wife and I owned 11 stores," he recalls. “I take pride in our hard work. I’m also proud that I have a
franchise organization that is made up of individuals that put their trust in me. I have a relationship with each franchisee.
They are part of my organization not because they signed an agreement, but because it is really a partnership and because we
believe in each other.”
LevineÂ’s vision for the future of USA BABY is to bring value to the existing franchisees owners and to constantly improve the
economics of their stores.
|
|
