New name, same service

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/06/2017 (3254 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 

A local furniture store’s owner learned that as the market evolves, so must the business.

 

Many may drive by 120 McPhillips St. and think Wicker World Home and Patio ran out of business now that there’s a new name on the building — but on the contrary, the company has outgrown its niche. On May 1, the furniture store changed its name to Luxe Furniture Company.

“With Wicker World, it puts us in a bracket of wicker. However, we don’t have a tonne of wicker anymore,” Phil Squarie, president of Luxe Furniture Company, explained.

“If someone tells you ‘We got our furniture from Wicker World,’ if you don’t like wicker, we lost you.

“Everybody in the city has heard of Wicker World. Not everybody knew what we did because they didn’t give it a chance, but everybody had heard of us. But we need to get them in; we don’t just want them to hear about us.”

Wicker World opened 20 years ago as a wholesaler that sold wicker baskets. Squarie’s father was the owner of the store. In 2001, Wicker World focused on patio and outdoor furniture and accessories and became one of Canada’s leading outdoor furniture stores since then. A couple years later they expanded their showroom to include other furniture styles such as fabric and leather sofas and sectionals, wood tables, accent chairs and indoor accessories.

Wicker furniture is made from rattan, a plant commonly found in Indonesia’s forests. Squarie, who has been the business’ owner for 13 years, said they noticed the market changing three years ago when they lost most of their wicker suppliers. They went from buying from 12 factories to two, which was not enough to fill the space in the 24,000-square-foot store. Their selection was vanishing.

“We still have (wicker) but we needed to start changing because we couldn’t get enough,” he continued. “People are not willing to go into the rainforest and harvest (rattan) anymore.”

He explained their wicker furniture is now made of a high-end durable plastic material which is easier to maintain than the natural fibre.

Squarie gave assurances they still have the same staff and offer the same service. 

“You can always change. If you find the market changing as ours did, you can write that out and dwindle with it, or you can change things and reinvent yourself,” he said.

“We could keep doing what we were doing. Advertising what we didn’t do. ‘We’re Wicker World but we don’t do a lot of wicker.’ Or we could start creating some intrigue and talking to the younger generation.

He added the process has been a great learning experience for him and that although he knows it may take some time for people to get used to the new name, he’s gotten a lot of support from customers and friends and said he is happy they did it.

“We had a choice. We could either adapt or we could write that out and see what happened and I wasn’t willing to take that chance. It’s a big risk. Anytime you rebrand or change is a big risk.”

In addition to that, more than a year ago, Squarie opened Luxe Barbeque Company located at 1290 Kenaston Blvd. The store specializes in high-end barbeques offering grills, smokers, accessories, rubs, sauces and much more. 

The store operates seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 12 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call 204-779-2900 or go to luxefurniture.ca