RETAILING : Baby-Patio Furniture Combination Turns Trick for Charlie’s Warehouse
Some combinations are a natural.
Take ham and eggs. Salt and Pepper. Fred and Ethel. And . . . patio and baby furniture?
As unlikely as the furniture combination may sound, it apparently is a dynamic duo for Charlie’s Warehouse in Huntington Beach.
Since the store opened in 1985, owners Lenny and Judy Small have found that a fairly diverse group of shoppers--pregnant women, young couples and grandparents--are interested in both kinds of merchandise.
The result? About half of the customers at Charlie’s Warehouse end up buying both patio and baby furniture, said Lenny Small.
For Charlie’s Warehouse, that translates into a 36% leap in sales last year to $2.25 million. For 1989, Small said he expects a further 15% jump in revenue.
Small first started his own business by selling toys and bicycles. Four years ago, he began experimenting with a combination of patio furniture and gardening supplies. When that didn’t pan out, he switched to picnic supplies and patio furniture. But again, sales volume wasn’t high enough.
By then, however, Small had seen lots of expectant mothers who were interested in baby furniture--at that point the smallest segment of his business. So he combined that with the patio merchandise and that winning combo has racked up sales increases every year, Small says.
“We have lots of business and professional women who are now taking time off to have babies. Grandparents are extremely good customers, too,” he said.
Prices aren’t bargain basement, but according to Small, Charlie’s Warehouse customers pay less than they would at a department or chain store.
That means that the 20,000-square-foot store has cribs ranging in price from $110 to more than $700, the latter for a model that converts to a youth bed. Bedding--including a comforter, bumper and sheet--can be bought for about $280.
In addition to a wide selection--the store carries 60 to 75 types of bedding--Charlie’s Warehouse also stocks just about every type of baby accessory imaginable. So persnickety parents can pick up, say, wall switches to match the rest of the nursery’s decor.
To keep shoppers coming back, Charlie’s Warehouse is broadening its line to include such furniture as bunk beds and desks, aimed at older children and teens.
