Clicks and mortar

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This article was published 06/02/2021 (1825 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Despite what skeptics may say, Canada’s largest furniture manufacturer wants you to know there’s a future for brick-and-mortar stores beyond COVID-19.

In an interview with the Free Press on Friday, the CEO and president of Winnipeg-headquartered Palliser Furniture — which is the parent company of furnishing and upholstery brands including EQ3, Pinnacle and Casana — said it’ll take “more than this virus to get the physical aspect of our industry down.”

Nearly a year of back-and-forth pandemic reopenings across North America later, Peter Tielmann believes there’s been more good news for anyone selling home-based products than bad. 

 

“Almost all our problems were good problems to have, like demand rising and causing supply issues,” he said. “And especially if you were able to get the ball rolling quickly on your e-commerce early on, your furniture business would’ve likely been in good shape.” 

While Palliser’s business-to-business and contractual sales were down, consumer demand rose significantly — even if that wasn’t coming from storefronts exactly. E-commerce revenue has reportedly increased for just EQ3 alone by 150 per cent in 2020, as storefronts were forced shut for crucial parts of the year.

That’s because the vacillation caused by public-health orders has affected certain parts of the furniture-selling business more than others, Tielmann said. It’s also ranged from region to region and comes as a result of one government decision to the next. 

“A lot of it wasn’t the case in the U.S. though,” said Tielmann, “because things have remained open there for the most part for almost the whole pandemic.”

In Canada, he said, it’s been quite different. “Every province handled it in their own ways and everyone was taking the science differently to keep certain stores open and others not.”

It was especially the case in Manitoba, Tielmann said, where the government’s decision to create lists that determined essential and non-essential services caused several difficulties for furniture retailers.

 

“We weren’t considered essential and I mean I don’t want to be playing any blame games for that, but it definitely disrupted things quite a bit until it was finally evened out.”

Tielmann said now it’s time to start looking at what the future could be. “And I certainly think,” he said, “storefronts is still where a lot of it will continue to be.”

That motivation is also the reason behind the company’s upcoming investment in Winnipeg, where EQ3 is moving its current storefront at the corner of Portage Avenue and St. James Street into the old Sears building at CF Polo Park mall — expanding from 11,000 square feet to about 44,000 square feet.

Talks surrounding this expansion had been in the works with Cadillac Fairview at least since early 2018. Palliser wanted to give EQ3 a bigger space to diversify its products and partner with more Canadian manufacturers.

“What the pandemic did though is it fast-tracked everything for us,” said Tielmann. “We had to make some difficult decisions early in 2020 when things were locked down, but once we started to understand how this virus worked, we started moving ahead in a very positive way on some key ideas that were already being planned out.” 

The new location at Polo Park will be a combination of digital commerce and the brick-and-mortar concept. With a planned reopening set for mid-August, EQ3’s already installed plexiglass barriers and hand-sanitizer stations, “with a space just right for exact social-distancing,” said Tielmann.

“We’re trying to do something different here that blends into a full experience for the customer — it’ll have a café, it’ll have very integrated technology that allows you to feel products, but also large touchable screens that will allow you to visualize how they will look in your home, right there and then when you shop.”

The location is looking to recruit a “well-known local restaurant” that Palliser doesn’t want to reveal yet. 

“It’s been a good year for us in a weird way,” said Tielmann. “And honestly, I remain excited for our future ahead.”

Twitter: @temurdur

Temur.Durrani@freepress.mb.ca