Retail rewrite: ABC Carpet & Home reshapes business using a multifaceted plan
ABC Carpet & Home has employed a series of efforts, including building up its e-commerce, to reshape the business after coming out a bankruptcy in 2021.
NEW YORK — By blending the “integrity, soul and legacy” of its past with fresh edits to bring the brand forward, ABC Carpet & Home has continued to make strides since emerging from bankruptcy a few years ago.
The laundry list of actions taken by the 127-year-old retailer include increasing its e-commerce trade, refreshing popular categories and turning an eye toward expansion.
ABC has steadily built its online presence, according to Suki LaBarre, vice president-merchandising and e-commerce. “E-comm plays a critical role in our overall merchandising strategy because it allows us to take the magic of the assortment that lives in the store and expand it 10 times and offer it to clients who don’t live in New York City,” she said.
The online channel evolves weekly and is “becoming a larger piece of the pie each quarter,” said LaBarre. “Last year, e-comm was approximately 10% of the business. This year, we are pacing at 15% and moving toward traditional 30%,” which she said is in line with other omnichannel retailers.
To aid its online business, the former Top 100 retailer has invested in new technology ranging from quick-ship carpet customization to view-in-room features to 3-D color and fabric renderings for upholstery. In the store at 888 Broadway there are now several oversized touchscreens to encourage engagement between in-person and online shopping.
Along with its growth online, LaBarre said ABC’s sales were up 12% year-over-year in 2023 and are expected to rise by 12% to 15% this year, although no total sales figure was shared. In addition to its flagship store, ABC also has an outlet in Brooklyn.
The company is still learning how to find the balance between its legacy image and its new persona, “testing different approaches and seeing what sticks,” said LaBarre. “Our assortment is driven by color, individuality and a sense of discovery. We want our customers to be inspired and feel like they are stumbling upon the perfect find that they can’t live without.”
After its acquisition out of bankruptcy in 2021 by 888 Capital Partners, ABC returned to its roots and focused more heavily on the rug category, but that is evolving as well.
Rugs make up about 50% of the space, said LaBarre, who noted “rugs and carpet have and will always play the most dominant role in our assortment. It is our strongest and most competitive collection. There is no one else in the market that has the size, variety, quality and access that we have with our one-of-a-kind rugs.”
Still, furniture and home décor “play a large and very important role in serving the customer and maintaining the vibrancy and magic of the brand,” she said. “We have several exclusive furniture collections launching this year, both new and reintroductions for years past.”
In July, for instance, the company added 140 new furniture items online that included modern, vintage and outdoor pieces. ABC has brought in exclusive brands as well, such as U.K.-based Pooky, which offers lamps and shades.
The goal with furniture, she said, is to offer different price points and styles to inspire consumers. Also returning is abcVintage furniture, which LaBarre said “is necessary to create the texture in the overall assortment.”
“It’s all in the mix,” said LaBarre about the combination of brands and ABC’s own goods. “I believe all of it is required to keep the assortment interesting,” she said, pointing to “elite brands” such as Missoni and bedding brand Signoria Firenze, “cult classics” like tabletop brands Astier and Ginori, emerging ones like Pooky and ABC’s proprietary rugs and own-label Cobble Hill chairs, sofas and beds. “All are needed to create a lifestyle and shopping experience that inspires,” she said.
Other products that make up ABC Carpet’s assortment include dining pieces within the abcDNA collection, designed in-house; jewelry, which is expanding with new and emerging designers as well as classic pieces; plus bed and bath, kitchenware and gifts.
Once covering four levels, ABC Carpet & Home now maintains about 30,000 square feet on the main floor and lower level, but plans are underway to reopen the mezzanine level, adding 10,000 square feet.
“While it is still a work in progress,” LaBarre explained, the mezzanine “is being fashioned as a beautiful showroom to showcase our oversize and antique rug collections, an expanded bedding assortment and the reintroduction of mattresses. It will also act as a design studio for custom rugs and trade and interior design projects.”
LaBarre said ABC will partner with Naturepedic for mattresses, citing the brand’s emphasis on designs for “health-conscious consumers” with features such as certified organic cotton and natural latex.
As for future plans, LaBarre said ABC wants to expand its retail presence at some point — no timeline yet — by entering the Los Angeles and Miami markets. “Miami and LA, like New York City, all share vibrant cultures, offering diverse art scenes, music and cuisine that attract style-conscious consumers,” she said about those target cities.
See also:
What's Your Reaction?
