Walker Furniture emphasizes value, storage

Las Vegas— Walker Furniture's youth bedroom department winds through about 5,000 square feet on the upper level of its 140,000-square-foot main showroom on Martin Luther King Boulevard, not far from downtown and the brand new World Market Center building.

The family-owned retailer has put together an assortment that ranges from traditional to contemporary and features both twin and full-size beds from Trendwood — its largest youth source — Sandberg, Kathy Ireland Home by Standard, Good Cos., Coaster, Manchester, Acme and Lea Inds. Light and medium finishes remain the strongest performers.

Walker doesn't delve into the infant category. "We call it tots, teens and more," said Walker CEO Larry Alterwitz.

There are 16 vignettes and about 19 looks, and most emphasize the storage elements that consumers are looking for in a market where second bedrooms can be small.

Just as important is price. Walker concentrates on the broad middle, selling twins from $299 to $850 and doing most of its business at $299 to $499. The strength in loft systems is at the $699 and $799 price points.

Alterwitz said the main reason it does so well with Trendwood is because the line is its promotional price lead off. Trendwood room packages here range from about $299 for a starting loft to $799 for a full-size loft with trundle, chest and built-in desk. "It just flies," he said, noting the "bang for the buck" the sturdy line offers.

Walker promotes this value pricing as a competitive advantage and backs it up with a heavy stock position. The Top 100 company recently moved to a 429,000-square-foot distribution center — more than twice the size of its previous facility. It buys full container loads of imported and other goods.

"We take advantage of special buys ... and seem to be buying a lot of containers from China because of the perceived value it represents," Alterwitz said. "The factories love us for that, the customers love us for that and the guy who sold us the (warehouse) racks loves us for that.

"We are very tenacious about being competitive in every category that can be measured, and price is one of them," Alterwitz added.

That value message is hammered home in point-of-purchase materials and regularly in its advertising, which features Alterwitz playing up Walker's core promises: a low-price guarantee, 100% satisfaction and service before, during and after the sale. Walker's universal selling proposition, carried as a tagline in its marketing materials is, "Furniture — it's all we do."

The youth category is advertised regularly in circulars distributed every six weeks in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. But even when youth is not the subject of the retailer's advertising, it benefits from the regular branding efforts of Walker, promoting the store as the place to buy furniture in Las Vegas.

Walker's primary textile source in youth is California Kids, and it also carries merchandise from Hallmart. Most of the wall art comes from Creative Images, and much of the lighting, including the popular wiggle lamps, comes from Lumisource.

Linda Alterwitz, buyer for accents and textiles in the department as well as director of visual display for Walker, said the rule on accents and lighting in the youth department is to keep it inexpensive and hip, as well as youthful — but not so young-looking that it won't last.

That may explain the popularity of some of the wall art from Creative Images — artwork (road signs, etc.) applied on board, but not under glass, which would have made the pieces more expensive and more traditional. Linda Alterwitz said it proves to be a nice compromise for parents and kids — presented in a neat, but not too traditional way and with subject matter that kids like.

"And the price is right between $39 and $69," she said, adding that when the store starts topping $100 on wall art for the youth category, it starts meeting resistance.

"Parents don't like to spend too much on kids' rooms because the average kids tend to change their décor as often as they change their hair styles," she said.

An unusual corner bed in birch veneers from Lea Inds. is a highlight near the entrance of Walker's youth department.

Good Cos.' Heather bed adds a Victorian/cottage feel. The bedspread is from California Kids, and the wall art is from Creative Images.

Walker gives a hot-selling Trendwood bed a fun western theme with leather animals from Executive Imports and special rope treatment above the vignette.