Not so many seasons ago, it was possible to characterize the state of patio furniture retailing in broad strokes. After making scores of phone calls and having dozens of phone conversations with merchants from coast to coast, we might write with some certainty that “patio retailers had a good year.” Often we were able to quantify that with a number – “most retailers report sales up from eight to 12 percent” – and we could publish that number with confidence.

Or, after due diligence in reporting, we might say with some authority that “sales in the season just ended were generally flat.” In a worst-case scenario, when patio sales took a downturn, they tended to be bad all over. The misery was shared.

Those days are gone.

There is no way to generalize about how specialty retailers fared during the 2014 casual furniture season. The brick-and-mortar retail environment – battered by the Great Recession, challenged by Internet sellers and savvy catalog marketers, and grappling with a new generation of American consumers with vastly different buying power and aspirations – defies simple characterization.

Regional economies, which still play a major role in overall retail health, don’t account for the wide disparities merchants report. Shop A might be thriving while Shop B, a short drive away, struggles.

The late Tip O’Neill, longtime speaker of the House of Representatives, famously quoted his father as saying, “All politics is local.” That same philosophy may be applied to retail. Local economies, whether in a 30-mile trading radius or on a side of town that has seen better days, appear to determine a shop’s fate just as much or more than the national economy.

Another factor is management’s willingness to experiment and change strategies in order to survive in this vastly different retail environment.

Chad Scheinerman, CEO of Today’s Patio, Gilbert, Arizona.

Chad Scheinerman, CEO of Today’s Patio in Arizona and California, noted, “There’s been a shift in the industry. The guys who have a different model, who are aggressive and have adjusted their business practices” probably are rewarded with sales growth.

Today’s Patio enjoyed its best year ever in 2014, Scheinerman said. The same was true in 2013 and 2012. Scheinerman has found strategies that work in his markets; we say markets, because each of his stores serves a slightly different demographic and clientele. A savvy retailer understands that a single approach, a uniform product mix for multiple retail floors, may not be the best approach.

Hearth & Home spoke with a storeowner who, after five decades of healthy business, has seen sales remain flat or decline over the last few seasons. There are extremely high-income ZIP codes in his trading area. There’s a highly successful independent patio shop about an hour away.

Yet his sales are off.

Randy Royster, owner, On Deck Outdoor Living, Dandridge, Tennessee.

The storeowner indicated that he planned to stay the course and expressed hope that his business would turn the corner and grow again.

Hope isn’t a business plan.

The number of specialty retailers nationwide began to decline in the aftermath of the Great Recession. That trend continues. Calls made at random to retailers around the nation found a number of retailers who have deemphasized casual furniture or who have exited the furniture business entirely. Others are just suffering through. Consider the following:

• “We did terrible last year,” said Shirley Green, an associate at Malibu Pool & Patio in Grand Junction, Colorado. “We were the last to go into recession, and we’ll be the last to come out. We’re a boom and bust town.”
• Sunburst Patio & Fireside in Yuba City, California has ceased retail operations. “We’re just doing service now” for hearth and spa customers, said Connie Putnam, who with her husband, Gary, bought the shop in 2004. “The economy just beat us up too much.” Selling the business isn’t practical, she said, “and we’re too young to retire.”
• Hoigaards, a longtime retailer in Minneapolis, no longer sells outdoor furniture.
• “We didn’t try to sell as much furniture” in 2014, said Nate Powell, manager at Creekside Hearth & Patio in Burnham, Pennsylvania. “The furniture business is kind of declining.”
• A casual dealer in Hawaii, who asked not to be named, said, “We’ve been on a downhill slide since 2009.” The struggling California economy, wracked by declining real estate values, frequently made headlines for the past few years, the dealer said. But the situation on his island, he said, actually was worse than California’s and has been slower to recover.
• Fine’s Hearth & Patio in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, exited the patio furniture business in 2013.

The Upside

So much for the bad news.

Hearth & Home found that most retailers willing to talk reported an increase in furniture sales in 2014. Some were up by a few percentage points, while others saw sales climb by double-digit percentage points, usually in the low teens.

Two of casual retailing’s acknowledged leaders reported increases, and both happen to be in Texas. (It’s a big state, and they are not direct competitors).

David Schweig, president of Sunnyland Patio Furniture in Dallas, said, “We’re very pleased with how things closed. Our best year was 2008, and we’re back on track with those numbers.”

Karen Galindo, owner, Outside in Style, Austin, Texas.

Karen Galindo of Outside in Style, headquartered in Austin, said, “We did good. We were up.” Outside in Style, formerly known as Greenhouse Mall, completed its second full season after a total makeover and name change in 2013.

Sunnyland just completed extensive remodeling with the goal of “making it more fun,” Schweig said. Taking cues from Jordan’s Furniture in Massachusetts, Sunnyland wants to offer visitors a “shoppertainment” environment.

Sunnyland will have new competition this season as Nebraska Furniture Mart of Texas opens in its trading area. “Everybody is aware of the Goliath coming to town,” Schweig says. “You address it and you focus on your strengths, focus on what makes you different.”

Schweig’s strategy syncs with Galindo’s. She complains that furniture retailers too often respond to challenges with a fire-sale mentality. Retailers cave on price at the first hint of customer resistance, she said. A better strategy, she said, is to defend price positions with product and value information.

The art of retailing – to develop new strengths and counter new forces in the marketplace – is constantly on Galindo’s mind.

“I can’t think of a good retail experience I’ve had in the last year,” she said. “Retail is sick – sick in so many ways. In this day and age, it pays to be aggressively going after business. Doing the same old thing isn’t going to work. In retail, we need to make a concerted effort to do better.”

Elsewhere at Retail

On Deck Outdoor Living in Dandridge, Tennessee, racked up an estimated 30 percent increase. “We had a really good furniture season,” said storeowner Randy Royster. Plastic lumber furniture enjoyed strong sales.

Outdoor Elegance in La Verne, California, saw sales rise about 14 percent last year. “Our focus is on designer and contract,” said owner Doug Sanicola, “and we’re just knocking it out of the park.”

The strong economy around Nashville, Tennessee, helped propel a 15 percent increase for Mister T’s Patio Furniture. “Nashville as a whole had an incredible year,” said Operations manager Jim Beacom, “and we’re just riding the coattails of that.” Sales in 2014 were third best in the company’s history.

“We try to set ourselves apart with quality and service,” Beacom said. “We used to be the only game in town. Now, we have within 15 miles probably five or six competitors.”

American Patio & Fireplace in Gainesville, Florida, found sales “up about eight percent across the board,” said Les Lewis, who owns the shop with his wife, Darlene. Last season was the best in the last four or five years, he said. Top

sellers were vinyl wicker and aluminum.

Florida-based Leaders Casual Furniture, which opened its 19th store in April, had its best year ever in 2014. Sales were up 20 percent, said managing partner Tim Newton.

Almost three-fourths of the product on Leaders’ floors is proprietary (privately labeled), he said. The company’s philosophy is to “structure the Big Box customer into our customer. We don’t alienate a Big Box customer.”

Keep it Casual in Tupelo, Mississippi, also recorded a 20 percent sales differential in 2014, but not in a positive direction. A massive tornado ripped through Tupelo and the surrounding area in April last year, and recovery has been slow. “We’re hoping for replacement business this spring,” said Meredith Deas Tollison, owner of Keep It Casual.

James Bassemier, owner, Bassemier’s Fireplace, Patio & Spas, Evansville, Indiana.

Bassemier’s Fireplace, Patio & Spas, in Evansville, Indiana, reported “a phenomenal year” in 2014. “We had record numbers,” James Bassemier said.

Sales were up “in single digits” at Bell Tower Lake House Living in Richland, Michigan. Jack Kosin, who owns the shop with his wife, Ashleigh, said his strongest sellers were plastic and marine-grade polymer products by Seaside Casual and Telescope Casual Furniture.

Kosin said the average ticket for casual furniture runs between $3,500 and $4,500. “It’s creeping up because of deep seating,” he said.

Plastic furniture also sold well for Better Homes Hearth & Patio in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania. Manager Randy Epstein said sales were up about 10 percent over 2013. In contrast to many shops that have seen a decline in outdoor dining sales, dining furniture remains strong for the shop, he said. Deep seating is gaining in popularity, however.

“We’re hoping to do more fire pit tables and more outdoor seating,” he said. “The outdoor wicker is popular.”

(Several retailers contacted mentioned that the plastic furniture category continues to grow in popularity).

Biddle Outdoor Center operates two stores in Arizona. One store’s sales were even with 2013 numbers, while the other did “much better,” said vice president Karla Biddle. She attributed the uptick to the improving economy. Sales at her Sedona store in the first 12 days of January topped sales for the entire month of January 2014. “I’m looking forward to a good year,” she said.

2014 was a year of opportunity and expansion for Jim Montgomery, owner of Backyard Expressions in California. Montgomery worked for Anaheim Patio & Fireside for 35 years before opening his own shop in 2008. When Anaheim Patio closed its stores, Montgomery took over the 12,000 sq. ft. location in Huntington Beach. “We are expecting to more than double our business this year,” he said.

Last year presented “a strange dynamic” for Changing Seasons Patio Shop in Muncie, Indiana. Sales in April 2014 were up about three times over the previous year, said manager Brian Hughes. But sales in July were only about a third of the previous year.

“We made about the same amount of income, but it was different,” Hughes said. “The momentum never happened. What really killed us was not having a decent summer. It wasn’t very hot.”

At Churchill’s Fireside & Patio in West Lake Hills, Texas, co-owner Dorothy Duhon said, “Last year was just awesome. Every part of my store did great.” Unexpectedly strong sales in February of this year gave her a good feeling about the coming season. “I think it’s going to be just as good as last year,” she said.

Sales were up 12 percent at Custom Outdoor Furniture in Garden City, South Carolina. “We had an excellent year,” said Happy Land, store manager and buyer. The shop, located near South Carolina’s many resort beaches and communities, does a healthy contract business in addition to retail. Both divisions were up, Land said.

Williams Ski & Patio in Highland Park, Illinois, reported an increase, “But not what was projected,” said vice president Bruce Erickson. “It was a roller coaster. It started off really strong and then slowed down,” he said. Sales regained some momentum later in the year.

Fire pits “at all price levels” are a strong item, he said, driving sales of “everything that goes around them.”

Petey Fleishut, owner of Casual Marketplace in Hockessin, Delaware, said sales in 2014 were “pretty flat” thanks to the brutal winter. Weather closings were the most in the store’s 20-year history.

“We basically did no business in February or March” last year, she said. Sales from April through August were robust before falling off after Labor Day. “The weather was a huge issue,” Fleishut said.

“We had a good year,” said Michael Robertori, CEO of Villa Terrazza Patio and Home in Sonoma, California. “Our revenues were up, but our margins were down.” Management held meetings earlier this year “to figure out where we are getting squeezed so much, to figure out where our inefficiencies are.”

Georgetown Patio & Fireplace in Texas saw sales edge up by two or three percent, said Gene Henry, president. Business was good and stable, he said. “It wasn’t astoundingly better, but it was strong,” Henry said. “It wasn’t one of those stellar years that will go down in the records.”

Debbie Stegman, owner of three Elegant Outdoor Living stores in Florida, says the 2014 season won’t be over for her until April 2015. “Our season runs from October to April,” she explained. After closing her retail shops in the Midwest, Stegman had to change her fiscal year “because the season is so totally different here.”

As her season draws to a close, Stegman reports sales up by eight

percent. “We had a tremendous year,” she said. “We’re just really, really busy. If we could just get shipments in faster, it would be great.”

Emily Potter, general manager, Sierra Timberline in Grass Valley, California.

Sales at Sierra Timberline in Grass Valley, California, rose by about 10 percent last season. The local economy finally is recovering from the housing bust, fueled by retirees and young families opting for a more rural lifestyle, said general manager Emily Potter.

Success these days, Potter said, depends on a retailer’s ability to remain agile and fluid. “The consumer’s perception has shifted,” she explained, “and the dealer’s perception must shift as well, in a positive and optimistic manner. Consumers are like animals; they sense fear.”

When shoppers venture into a store, Potter said, “They want a positive interaction and experience. We’re there for their entertainment.”

Is there a common thread here? Perhaps.

The most enthusiastic patio retailers – including Schweig, Galindo and Potter – haven’t lost sight of the one element that sets casual furniture apart from most other forms of retailing.

Outdoor living and The Outdoor Room are all about fun.