HOUSTON — With a nod to the increasing sales potential presented by interior designers, Texas-based retailer Star Furniture is continuing to expand the company’s trade program launched late in 2024 and incorporating more services to address key issues faced by the interior design trade, including logistics.
“We decided to get serious about our trade program last year,” said Michael Galloway, vice president of marketing. “We took advantage of our relationship with Jessica (Duce) and a team of all-star interior designers, and we picked their brains to find out what some of their main pain points were. Those conversations sparked numerous ideas.”
Duce became the first trade ambassador for Star Furniture in 2024 and worked with Galloway and the Star team on the initial launch of the trade program late last year.
A veteran designer in the Houston area, Duce is the founder and principal of JDuce Design and co-founder of Vacation Rental Designers as well as a consultant on the trade program. Currently, she collaborates with Star on video content as well as information gathering, assisting the retailer with key learnings that are being transformed into actionable initiatives.
“When we started looking at a trade program, we quickly realized that designers lost margins picked up from the manufacturers on the backside of the process,” Galloway said. “They made a lot of margin buying direct from the manufacturers, but then they had to pay for services like storage and delivery. We started thinking about what would happen if we could provide one place to do everything, and that started a dialogue.”
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During COVID, Star Furniture changed its strategy like many retailers, according to Galloway. The shift left Star with an underutilized warehouse facility, and the unused space prompted answers to the “what if” question.
“We looked at what designers were doing, and we realized there were opportunities,” said Galloway. “The designer might buy furniture from Star, but maybe also lighting from Hooker, for example, so we said, ‘Okay, that’s where we can win.’ As part of the trade program, the designer isn’t required to buy all products from Star. He or she can bring all of the product in for storage and then pay a delivery fee that is less than one-call service. It’s a remarkable concept.”
At the heart of the trade program are strong relationships with designer customers, according to Galloway. These relationships allow the retailer to customize some services to the specific needs of the designer, including tiered storage rates and delivery of project furniture and decor in an unmarked truck.
“We’ve had a very good response to our program as far as sign-ups,” Galloway noted. “This is encouraging. I believe getting on the shopping list and maintaining top-of-mind awareness is key.”
Star has 100,000 square feet available for the trade project, and Galloway noted that one organization — the Texas Staging Assn. — even moved everything from their own warehouses to the Star Furniture facility. The company currently has standard delivery zones serving four markets in Texas as well as a small portion in Louisiana, but also has some flexibility to accommodate special requests.
“We think we are unique. We’re a well-known company in the fourth largest city in the U.S., and we’re a Berkshire Hathaway company. That gives us a lot of leverage in the industry,” Galloway said.
Explaining that the bar for delivery services is “pretty low” in the industry, Galloway said that Star is determined to provide a solution and build on a relationship with designers that had been ‘nascent for a long time.’ To date, nearly 100 designers in Star’s target area have signed up for the trade program, and Galloway references the collaboration as “currency of engagement.” However, he also explained that the initiative is not easily replicated.
“Not a lot of people have the unique soup mix that we have, but those that do should try to do it. An observation I’d share for anyone looking to replicate what we’ve done is that it’s a ‘long game.’ Habits are hard to change, and established designers have ‘go-to’ resources that they are comfortable with. So, when you are breaking into an established market, your challenge becomes winning designers over to your program.
“The Interior Design Trade is simply a wonderful partner to have,” he concluded. “In my opinion, it’s not just about the business they do with you, it’s also about the collaboration opportunities that present themselves. For a company like Star that has service as a core value, the design community is full of compassionate, giving people who are absolutely amazing to work with.”
Star Furniture trade program for interior designers
Star Furniture’s Design Center and flagship showroom in Katy/West Houston will serve as the headquarters for the Trade Program. Upon request, designers will have at their disposal the services of Star’s own interior designers for order processing and assistance as needed.
Additional benefits include:
- 25% base discount available every day
- Access to Star Design concierge services
- Special financing to address individual needs, including no payments for six months
- Dedicated office space at the Design Center for consultations
- By appointment assistance with in-store services and client visits
- First-look product reveals from premium vendors
- Advance notice of CEU opportunities offered at Star Furniture’s education facility
Services for Signature status designers:
- 30% Earned Volume Discount for businesses with over $25,000 in purchases from Star – the status will roll forward to future purchases and doesn’t need to be earned year after year
- Premium Delivery Service at standard delivery fee rate
- Cross-promotion through social media
- The opportunity to serve as a subject matter expert in various venues, webinars, presentations, podcasts, etc.
White glove delivery
Star’s delivery teams provide the following white glove services:
- Pre-delivery merchandise inspection, touch-up and repair
- Pre-delivery, delivery and post-delivery consumer communications
- Automated routing, real-time tracking and delivery status updates
- Full assembly and deluxing of merchandise
- Instructional demonstration and tutorials
- Clean up and removal of all packaging materials
- Removal of old merchandise
Warehouse services
Star’s warehouse team is trained in inventory management, order fulfillment, and efficient logistics processes. The retailer utilizes industry-leading software to track and manage inventory accurately, minimizing errors and ensuring timely fulfillment of orders. Both short-term storage or long-term warehousing solutions are available.
- Inbound logistics
- Technology based inventory management
- Store transfers and replenishment
- Product inspection and testing
- Repair of products
- After-market services
- Reverse logistics
Services to luxury interior designers also include:
- Furniture Technicians: touch-up and repair of new and/or customer’s existing furniture
- Electrical: installation of lighting and other related products
- Window Treatments: installation of curtains and shades
- Relocation and/or removal of furniture
- Relocation of customer’s existing furniture to another room
- Removal and disposal of customer’s old furniture
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