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Spokane furniture dealers have shed their gloves for a bare-knuckled battle for consumer dollars, but the way they tell it, nary a punch has been landed thus far in the fight.
Nevertheless, the ring is littered with daily newspaper ads hyping hot furniture deals and cheap credit. A TV pitchman takes a jab by equating those ads with a hunk of meat--calling them both "baloney" and tossing them in the trash. With a left hook, a window sign warns shoppers not to pay for a competitor's lavish new building.
At the center of the fray is Portland-based Smith's Home Furnishings, which muscled into the Spokane market this fall with a glitzy store at Northpointe Plaza and a relentless barrage of full-page newspaper ads.
But Smith's isn't the only new player in town. United Buy & Sell Furniture Warehouse Inc., a fast-growing 50-store Canadian chain, opened here this past summer. And Nationwide Warehouse & Storage Inc., a 91-store Ohio-based chain, opened a Spokane store this fall.
The competition is likely to get even stronger, as Smith's says it plans to open another store, in the Spokane Valley, later this year.
The new competition has forced other stores here to advertise more, but so far, dealers claim, the effect has been positive--not negative: There's been more business for everyone, they claim.
"Our business has increased, so if that's what new stores do, fine," says Mark Barnes, general manager of National Furniture, a 31-year-old Spokane store at N1230 Division.
Terry W. Griner, president of Spokane-based Self-Service Furniture Inc., agrees: "Since they've moved in, our business has gone up. Maybe all that advertising has gotten people off their wallets."
Rick Ennis, vice president and director of stores at Ennis Fine Furniture, says, "Everybody I talk to says business is good."
SHAKEOUT COMING?
National Furniture's Barnes says part of the reason business has been good is that Spokane's economy has been strong the past couple of years, boosting consumer confidence here. In addition, Barnes says, the recent frenzied advertising melee has made more consumers think about buying furniture.
Observers also say that the big spate of home building here has probably enlarged the furniture market.
Despite the growth and glowing comments, however, not all is bright in the furniture...