News

Furniture First Announces the Approval of 29th & 30th Mattress 1st Stores

Last week the Furniture First Board of Directors approved the 29th and 30th Mattress 1st retail stores for Members Wilson Furniture and Bears Furniture and Mattress Den. Wilson Furniture, located in Bridgeport, Ohio, has been a member of Furniture First since the beginning of 2013 and Bear’s Furniture, with stores in Franklin and Cranberry, Pennsylvania,

Join Martin Roberts at High Point Market for “Smart Retailers Think Differently”

If you’re a retail executive with P&L responsibilities this is the one seminar you can’t afford to miss. It’s time to think differently about how design impacts strategy, assortment planning, and making the most of your valuable assets. Learn more about recent expansions and those in the pipeline. Hear how to take advantage of distressed

Martin Roberts Design Gets Revamped Company Website

Retail design veteran Martin Roberts reported that he took a brief break from store design projects recently to revamp his own company’s website: http://www.mrobertsdesign.com “No matter how busy you are, you have to project to your customers that you are in business to do business, and that you are a business they want to do

Surya to Host Multiple Events During High Point Market

Martin Roberts of Martin Roberts Design, LLC, and Carolyn Ames Noble of Sherwin-Williams will be presenting at High Point Market. Published first in Furniture Today Surya reported that it will host several educational and social events at its flagship showroom – Showplace 4100 – during this spring’s High Point Market. Attendees will have the opportunity

Furniture First to Celebrate 20th Anniversary

“Store designer Martin Roberts created this new logo for the Furniture First buying group.” Published first in Furniture Today HARRISBURG, Pa. — Furniture First will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a gala dinner event on April 5, the opening day of the High Point Market, at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, N.C. Invitations have been

Martin Roberts Designs Furniture for Design Within Reach

Whether designing furniture or retail environments, Martin Roberts brings a passion for discovery to everything he does. After earning degrees in industrial design engineering and design systems, Roberts went to work for Conran’s Habitat in London where he created collections of innovative furniture and household items. It wasn’t long before his work was available in

Furniture Sales in the Age of “Showrooming”

Target is among the retailers taking steps to thwart shoppers armed with Smartphones who are scanning bar codes on products in store to search for better prices in competing stores and on the internet. Target is understandably upset about sales the 1,700-store company is losing every day to showrooming, the scanning of price tags by

Digital Stores for a Smartphone Generation

This is a column about how technology is changing the shopping experience. One example I’m personally familiar with is a large, regional furniture chain in the South that has gone wireless with its sales transactions. Now customers pay their salesperson, who is armed with a tablet computer, from anywhere in the store, perhaps even while seated

Signs of the Times – A Modern Approach to In-store Design by Martin Roberts

There has been an enormous shift in the way people shop once they’re inside the store. It’s all about clearing obstacles for the customer. Recent research shows that easing shopper frustration is the most promising path to higher sales. That’s why Walmart is replacing its 15-foot-high shelves with lower-profile displays, to give shoppers a clear