Tales from the Storefront

Kansas City's Curious Sofa does its own thing

Here, Dusenberry talks about the fine line between creating a unique brand identity and listening to your customers at the same time.

Dusenberry: I would say that we stand out from the normal retail store because everything that we do is antique-inspired. Even if it’s new, it has to have a time-worn elegance about it or sort of a heritage in its design.

I keep my color palate very neutral. I don’t like bright, bold colors at all. That is something that is one of my trademarks; it’s just part of the style I’ve created here. And I have a philosophy behind that, which is … I think it's easier on the shoppers. I really believe that too much … colorful product in the store can be a little overwhelming and confusing, and retailers have to keep their stores full. It’s [also] easier for me to shop for items, it helps me isolate certain things when I go to market, it helps me shop better and keep a focus on my brand…

I believe it’s crucial to the success of retailers today [to have a very distinct brand image]. It’s definitely important to focus on that and bring it to the customer because if you try to be everything to everybody than you're nothing special. So I believe wholeheartedly that to try to compete in today’s market [against] big box stores and franchise stores, if the retailer isn’t focused on creating a brand and being unique, we’re sure to fail… It’s all about your identity…

I opened in a downtown location, which was kind of funky, off-the-beaten-path, kind of SoHo-like. And then I moved from there, four years later, to what would be considered more of a traditional little shopping area with grocery stores and dry cleaner. And it was in a neighborhood — it’s not a strip mall, but it’s an outdoor center. I'm in a former Gap location.

Well, the minute I moved here, everything changed. I thought that I knew a lot, but it was really like opening a completely different store because the demographics had changed.

So you learn to adapt what you’re doing to … your location, because that means you have to please your customer. I remember one time before I got started in the business asking a guy about his business, and he said, “Well, your customers will tell you what kind of store you’re going to be.” And I remember thinking, “Well, my customers aren’t going to tell me what to do.” But if you want to be successful you absolutely have to pay attention…

I compromised a lot when I moved to this location. It’s not quite as funky, it’s not as hip, the people are a little more conservative. So I changed the look of my store to meet that, and it was fine, but I, myself, started to become a little agitated that I was compromising too much. And so now I am turning the store around, and you have to do it very slowly, to become the store that I am proud of. And in a way, you give them what they want, but then you start educating them to want what you do.

[Listening to your customers] isn’t necessarily a verbal communication because I’m actually in the office more than I’m on the floor. My staff tells me “They want more of this, or they want more of that, or they’re asking for this.”…

Because of my aesthetic, I’m not the type of person that carries a lot of wreaths or little porcelain bunnies at Easter or something like that. But if I carry something in my brand that looks that way, then there’s the compromise. Like I may not carry big yellow floral wreaths with big fake flowers, but I may carry some that are made out of wicker or straw.

The first thing that you realize when you get into a neighborhood, which I didn’t know coming here, but I started noticing if you’re in an area with lots of homes and families, they entertain more. So I immediately had to start carrying more things like napkins or runners or plates and dishes and … cookbooks, because people here take housewarming gifts. I wouldn’t have known that until I opened my store and they started asking for that. So you just have to pay attention to demographics… You see what sells, and you buy more of it or your buy a better variety of it or you get different price points of it.

[It’s crucial that you keep your store looking fresh]. I really believe in the 80-20 thing, which is that 20 percent of your customers make up 80 percent of your business. I try to teach a lot of people that. Because you get the same 20 percent in all the time, and if they’re the ones who are really spending money, you’ve got to make it look different for them. So we try to change the store, something — our store is really big, so it’s really hard to completely change it — but we try to change every area at least every two weeks, and we completely change it every season…

You can’t expect the new customer to come in and take care of your sales. You’ve got to keep your current customer happy.