Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM MAY 2021 58 I ndependent furniture dealers have an exclusive new source for news, business tools and peer support at the AVB/BrandSource buying group – Furniture Technology Source (FTS). The new program, announced last month at the group's annual spring Summit meeting and product expo, aligns BrandSource's home furnishings dealers to unleash the power of members helping members. As AVB's COO Dave Meekings explained, the group is developing even deeper communities within the overarching BrandSource family, "where members can learn from each other and get the exact information they need, when they need it, to help their businesses." BrandSource already has the best furniture programs, marketing technology platform (MarTech) and home furnishings dealers in the industry, Meekings said, and will now connect members with the peer advice and tools they need to help everyone's businesses grow. THE COMPONENTS OF FURNITURE TECHNOLOGY SOURCE INCLUDE: • A recently launched monthly home furnishings newsletter. • The Furniture Channel, an extensive program of furniture-focused, on-demand interviews and presentations that first aired on the third day of Summit. • Furniture breakouts during the group's regular Region Meetings, focusing on topics specific to home furnishings members. • A new series of Town Hall video conferences for small groups of furniture dealers, to serve as a forum where similar businesses can gather, talk and help each other grow. "We're on the cusp of developing a great community here," Meekings said. "It's powerful when members meet and talk." That was no more evident than with the aforementioned Furniture Channel. As Seth Weisblatt, BrandSource's home furnishings merchandising director explained, "The Furniture Channel was an effort to speak to the heart and soul of our industry – the mom-and- pop retailers who are fighting on behalf of their families and communities to remain a valued shopping destination. The goal is to provide retailers insight into the industry in short chunks, and to identify new partners that will help them accomplish their goals." "I've never seen such a tough environment for retailers," Weisblatt noted. "This is a scary time for many of our stores. But BrandSource and AVB Marketing [the group's advertising, e-commerce and digital marketing arm] are here to provide you with the tools to help you stay in front of the ever-changing customer, to stave off the fierce competition, and to help ensure your profitability as an independent retailer." COO Meekings added that BrandSource will similarly muster its servicing members through a series of virtual Service Town Halls and will provide them with service-specific digital marketing campaigns developed by AVB Marketing. The initiatives are an adjunct to last year's comprehensive Service Playbook manual, and last month's trio of servicer seminars at Summit. Alan Wolf is Senior Communications Specialist for AVB/ BrandSource, the nation's leading merchandising and marketing co-op for independent appliance, and consumer tech dealers. B U Y I N G G R O U P N E W S BRANDSOURCE FLEXES ITS HOME FURNISHINGS MUSCLES WITH FURNITURE TECHNOLOGY SOURCE Furniture Technology Source will connect dealers to the peers and tools they need to succeed. RO

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