We had two hours to make magic out of chaos. It was 8 a.m. at our store in Natick, and the backroom was stuffed with newly arrived consignment furniture. My wife, Diana, FCG’s merchandiser extraordinaire, scanned the inventory and set the timer on her watch. Everything had to be on the showroom floor, beautifully arranged, by the time the doors opened at 10 a.m.
Traditional furniture stores do this herculean task seasonally. At FCG, we do it every week. New consignment furniture pours into our stores daily and what’s on the floor flies out just as quickly. To keep this cycle spinning, sold items have to be removed and the newly consigned furniture and home accessories have to be arranged stylishly as quickly as possible.
Step #1: Our movers remove the items that sold during the week from the showroom floor, carefully carrying them to the backroom and preparing them for delivery. Swiftly, the movers open up fresh locations for new items.
Step #2: Next, the movers bring the new furniture into the showroom. Diana’s creativity kicks in and she starts organizing displays, sending a sofa in one direction and a pair of magnificent upholstered chairs in another. Soon, there are new lanes for walking around the displays and plenty of space for a customer to sink into a comfy leather sectional.
Step #3: Now, we accessorize. Art is re-hung. Pillows are plumped; they add a punch of color to a display. Lamps are shifted into new locations and flicked on for a sense of warmth and intimacy. Within an hour or so, the showroom looks entirely different than it did when we closed the night before.
With only minutes to spare before the store opens, the showroom is ready for retail action. Our photographer will begin snapping photos and uploading them to our website for our online shoppers. Our sales staff starts taking measurements of the new furniture and making sure the information is available to our customers online and in the store.
We do this every week at each of our three stores in Hanover, Natick and Plymouth. Our customers know that they can always find something different, unique, fun and fresh at FCG. That’s because our inventory changes rapidly and so do our showroom displays.
This Fourth of July weekend, in between the road races, parades, shark sightings and barbecues, come see the results of our weekly whirlwind.