Blog: “Customers want it now and you can’t get it until next year.”

Retailer/interior designer Michael Uvanni says we created this monster

HIGH POINT — I caught up with retailer, designer and friend Michael Uvanni at Premarket last month, and one thing was apparent: He doesn’t have much sympathy for retailers complaining about product delays these days even though he’s experiencing the very same thing.

If consumers are getting antsy, wondering when that new sofa or dining room group will arrive, they should go ahead and point their fingers squarely back at the store that’s been promising them next-day or same-day delivery for years now, says Uvanni, who operates two Michael J Uvanni Interiors locations in Rome, N.Y.

“We created this monster by making the public think that we could deliver to their door— not to us, the retailer, but the customer’s door — in three days or less,” he told me, while sitting in the lobby of an exhibitor showroom in the International Home Furnishings Center. 

“Customers want it now and you can’t get it until next year. We created this monster we’re now trying to dissipate because we can’t keep our promise.”

var gi_protocol = document.location.protocol;
var gi_redir = “”;
var gi_dasrc = gi_protocol + “//display.hcgmedia.com/?dsid=548202072085523523&pid=329&skid=76&if=0&at=0&alid=728_90&adtype=0&exty=1&special=0&redir=” + gi_redir + “&r=” + Math.random();
document.write(“”);

var gi_protocol = document.location.protocol;
var gi_redir = “”;
var gi_dasrc = gi_protocol + “//display.hcgmedia.com/?dsid=57420208119551504&pid=329&skid=76&if=0&at=0&alid=728_90&adtype=3&exty=1&special=0&redir=” + gi_redir + “&r=” + Math.random();
document.write(“”);

By “we,” Uvanni isn’t really including himself, and he says his business really hasn’t faced any backlash or cancellations related to the current widespread backlogs and shipping delays. Sure some of Uvanni’s suppliers are tight on inventory right now, but his customers don’t expect immediate gratification, “because we educate them that good things take longer to do.”

“And we don’t want to deliver something that’s going to be a headache, that’s going to have to come back and forth. We want it done right the first time. That’s really what our clientele want.”

I asked him if maybe he was being a little unfair. That word “clientele,” for instance, speaks to the type of products and consumers he’s dealing with; that would be the upper-end and the affluent. Maybe this is the type of customer more inclined and accustomed to wait on quality.

On the other hand, retailers serving the broad middle might say this is not their doing at all. COVID-19 is the wrench in the works. They hadn’t had a problem with this strategy until the pandemic hit, stores closed, then reopened and consumers rushed out to buy more than what was available in stock.

But Uvanni wouldn’t have any of it. “Let’s put the responsibility where it is,” he said. “There wouldn’t be a problem if we didn’t make people so accustomed to getting things immediately.

“Home furnishings and the arts — furniture and accessories — should not be immediate gratifications because you’re cheapening the product.”

So if COVID isn’t the real monster, what about the so-called “Amazon effect?” I asked. It’s Amazon, Wayfair and other giant e-tailers that have trained consumers they can get what they want right now (and with free shipping, no less). These retailers now suffering supply shortages have to offer that same service just to compete. 

Maybe so, but Uvanni still thinks it comes back to education, and the retailer’s playing this short game are now paying the price. Even the online sellers today are filled with “out-of-stock” listings, he said. 

So who has the leg up in times like these? Uvanni does. He wasn’t hurting before COVID, and he’s not hurting now, even though he’s facing the very same supply constraints.

“When I was in college, I had one professor say that 90% of what you do is going to be educating your clients, and there’s a lot of truth to that,” he said.

 “I spend a lot of time explaining to them that I know this industry. This is the way it operates. This is the way it is. And we tell them if they’re not comfortable with that, go someplace else. And we don’t lose clients because were honest and up front with them. 

“When we get any sort of notification that something is going to be late, the first thing we do is call (the customer) within 24 hours so they’re aware. When you keep the client up to date on what’s going on, there’s a lot of trust and respect.”

To be fair, several retailers, even those serving the mass middle market, have told me recently that customers, for the most part, have been patient and understanding during this time of unprecedented supply constraints. They know everyone is facing the same inventory problems. That goes for the furniture store down the road as well as retailers in other sectors, so they are more willing to wait than they normally would be.

Indeed, Jake Jabs, CEO of American Furniture Warehouse in Englewood, Colo., told me that he encourages salespeople today to, in turn, encourage the customer to wait for what he or she really wants — and not just select the next best thing that happens to be in stock.

“Buy what you like,” he said. “Be patient and wait.” He doesn’t want customers to have a change of heart six weeks later. 

Maybe this type of education and training in patience will pay dividends down the road when the crisis is resolved. Maybe the customers waiting for furniture today will come to appreciate the craft, the fashion and the function stories and be less likely to treat furniture and furniture purchasing like a commodity.

When Uvanni returned home to Rome, it wasn’t long before he had to inform a client about yet another product delay. He shared her emailed response with me:

“Michael thanks for the update,” she said. “I can wait until the spring. Do you need a deposit?”

var gi_protocol = document.location.protocol;
var gi_redir = “”;
var gi_dasrc = gi_protocol + “//display.hcgmedia.com/?dsid=578202081881555635&pid=329&skid=76&if=0&at=0&alid=728_90&adtype=3&exty=1&special=0&redir=” + gi_redir + “&r=” + Math.random();
document.write(“”);

var gi_protocol = document.location.protocol;
var gi_redir = “”;
var gi_dasrc = gi_protocol + “//display.hcgmedia.com/?dsid=587202010185212812&pid=329&skid=76&if=0&at=0&alid=728_90&adtype=0&exty=1&special=0&redir=” + gi_redir + “&r=” + Math.random();
document.write(“”);

var gi_protocol = document.location.protocol;
var gi_redir = “”;
var gi_dasrc = gi_protocol + “//display.hcgmedia.com/?dsid=582202091474319419&pid=329&skid=76&if=0&at=0&alid=728_90&adtype=3&exty=0&special=0&redir=” + gi_redir + “&r=” + Math.random();
document.write(“”);

var gi_protocol = document.location.protocol;
var gi_redir = “”;
var gi_dasrc = gi_protocol + “//display.hcgmedia.com/?dsid=5852020101102643780&pid=329&skid=76&if=0&at=0&alid=728_90&adtype=3&exty=1&special=0&redir=” + gi_redir + “&r=” + Math.random();
document.write(“”);

var gi_protocol = document.location.protocol;
var gi_redir = “”;
var gi_dasrc = gi_protocol + “//display.hcgmedia.com/?dsid=566202081191214486&pid=329&skid=76&if=0&at=0&alid=728_90&adtype=3&exty=1&special=0&redir=” + gi_redir + “&r=” + Math.random();
document.write(“”);