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Above, Rob Ringler, Regional Manager at Bob’s Discount Furniture and Franklin manager, Nick Messier preparing Thursday afternoon for the Friday morning Grand Opening at the Franklin Village Mall.
The story of Bob’s Discount Furniture is a classic American success story. Bob Kaufman, the “Bob” in the store’s name, was in a serious motorcycle accident in the 1970s and with a recovery aided by the comfort of a waterbed, he decided to go into the business of selling and marketing the hot new trend. And he sold many of them through sales outlets controlled by Gene Rosenberg. Eventually, the two men joined forces and “Bob’s” was born.
Today, the company has some 150 outlets, the newest of which is having its grand opening at 9 am Friday.
We talked with Regional Manager Rob Ringler about the furniture business and Bob’s arrival in 02038.
Observer: Why did Bob’s target Franklin for a new showroom?
RINGLER: Our opening in Franklin showcases our new concept store with a refreshed, smaller footprint attracting new customers as well as being conveniently located for continuing customers from our previous Bellingham location. We look forward to supporting customers’ needs for many years to come by providing the best values in furniture alongside world class service.
Observer: What is the size of the store?
RINGLER: 10,650 square feet! The Franklin store front is about a third of the size of a traditional Bob’s and is part of our new concept, smaller footprint stores.
Observer: How many people will the new Bob’s location employ?
RINGLER: With each store opening Bob’s creates 20-30 jobs in the region.
Observer: What events will be included for the new store opening?
RINGLER: Our Grand Opening will begin at 9:00AM on September 2nd and will consist of a ribbon cutting, check presentations to two local charities, refreshments and treats in our Bob’s Café as well as family friendly entertainment like face painting! The family friendly entertainment will be available through the holiday weekend including Labor Day on Monday.
Observer: What are customers’ expectations post-COVID & how are customers shopping for furniture today vs. 2-3 years ago?
RINGLER: In furniture everything used to be about customers coming into the store, buying furniture, and then calling into customer support or the stores when they needed something. However, post-COVID customers are shopping online more and more. They are increasingly more comfortable buying furniture sight unseen, without touching or feeling it.
Observer: Can you explain the company’s ‘omni-channel strategy’?
RINGLER: When we say Omni-channel what we mean by that is meeting customers where they want to shop – whether that’s on the phone, online, in-store…or some combination of the three. For instance, it’s very common these days for a customer to do research online on our website or our competitors’ and then visit the store to finalize their purchase after seeing and feeling the item. If we don’t have a particular color of an item on the floor, we have technology solutions that can help them visualize what that piece would look like in their home. This is especially important in a store like Franklin where we have a curated collection of pieces in the showroom.
We also have customers who browse in-store and complete their purchase online. At the end of the day, we want each customer to feel like they’ve had a shopping experience with us that was the right fit for them.
Observer: What does Bob’s do to support local communities?
RINGLER: Bob’s commitment to support local communities is prominent in each one of our store openings. In total, Bob’s will be donating $80,000 to community organizations around our new stores this year. At the Franklin grand opening we are donating two check presentations for $2,500 each to the local foundations of Rodman for Kids and Random Smile Project.
