Tepperman’s: Expanding furniture retailer’s success tied to its focus on local market, says Ivey school prof
As one retail giant fades, a homegrown Southwestern Ontario home-furnishing chain is enjoying a $5-million expansion in London.
Tepperman’s, which added a store in Kitchener one year ago, is holding its own against big-box, national furniture retailers and London is at the centre of that, with the company building a 50,000-square-foot addition to its Wharncliffe Road warehouse.
“We are doing very well, we are amazed with the growth and London is our largest, busiest store,” said Andrew Tepperman, president, in Windsor.
Tepperman’s now employs about 450 across the chain, 130 in London, and will be hiring when the new larger warehouse opens in November, said Tepperman.
“Growth is the mode here right now,” added Alan Withers, director of sales for the London store.
“We have done better than expected and things are looking even more positive.”
Tepperman’s has stores in Windsor, Chatham, Sarnia, London and Kitchener, and along with the local expansion Sarnia is also adding to its retail operation.
The small, family store that grew, chalks it up to doing business differently than the big-box chains it competes against. It works at being connected to the community through sponsorship programs, specifically education-related bursaries.
But Tepperman cites busies practice as a critical difference-maker, specifically its financing, allowing customized payment packages including five-year, interest-free loans as well as two years, no payment, options, its most popular, said Tepperman.
“Our day-to-day operations differentiate us from the competition,” he said.
“We are the only retailer that does not use a third-party bank. I know when the recession hit, people who used a third-party lender were not treated well.”
The store also won with consumers when it offered same-day delivery as long as a purchase was made before 2 p.m. It could make that pledge thanks to its warehousing operations in London, easy travel distance to its store.
“As a family we have been doing this for 92 years, we have a lot of experience and seen retail cycles up and down,” said Tepperman.
Knowing your market is the key difference between Tepperman’s and a national retailer like Sears, now restructuring its operations under creditor protection, closing about a third of its stores nationally, said Michael Pearce, business professor Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University, who specializes in the retail sector.
“It’s all about their ability to focus on the local market, they know what is appropriate for people in their area and do things that resonate with consumers there,” said Pearce.
“A national retailer often has difficulty localizing what they are doing.”
Tepperman’s is also trying to diversify its offerings, opening an Urban Studio test market, 4,000 sq. ft., of more upscale furniture. It still also offers the Bargain Annex discount line, and prides itself on being a mid-range home furnishing retailer.
“We use London as a test market, we are trying to push the envelope in the higher end,” over the last four months, added Tepperman. “It’s gone well, it’s a different demographic.
Tepperman’s came to London in 1997, moving into the old Patton’s Place store on Wharncliffe Road, before growing into its new, large store, farther south on Wharncliffe, in 2008.
As for the store’s origins, Nate Tepperman emigrated from Russia in 1920 and spent time in London before settling in Windsor and opening its store there.
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