Ethan Allen A Modern Home Decor Success
The Success of Ethan Allen Modern Home Decor
Home decor means different things to different people. For some, making homes beautiful with a sense of luxury and comfort is a way of life. Others struggle to see how different pieces come together and need help. Good modern home decor all starts with the question, “Why?”
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Understanding a customer’s “Why?” is what has allowed Ethan Allen to rise to highest peaks of the home decor industry.
Revolutionary Beginning, with a Revolutionary Name
When brothers-in-law and founders Nathan S. Ancell and Theodore Baumritter, opened their first houseware manufacturing business in 1932, they were ready to shake up the furniture industry. In 1936, they purchased a bankrupt furniture factory, re-branding to Ethan Allen, after the American Revolutionary War hero.
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They wanted to inspire innovation and were the first to recognize that selling furniture to customers who couldn’t visualize if pieces “Would this work for me?” or, “Will this fit with what I want?” was difficult if not impossible.
It might seem common place but these two men pioneered the concept of room-style setting. Customers no longer had too choose furniture from endless rows of tables or chairs, randomly placed together. Nathan and Theodore took guessing out of the equation. Customers could easily see how one style of chair looked with a particular table, or rug, and how it could fit into their home.
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Today room-style setting is the industry standard for modern home decor all over the world. All because Ethan Allen’s founders looked to answering the question of “Why?” for their customers, business and industry.
Keeping It In House
This new way of showcasing their designs made Ethan Allen successful. But the second reason for their ongoing success, is that they still create the majority of their own products. Today, over 70% of Ethan Allen’s wood products are handcrafted in the United States. With so many products outsourced to other countries, the question becomes, “Why?”
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Ethan Allen built a loyal customer base of repeat customers by creating, producing and selling high quality items. Quality matters to Ethan Allen customers. And Ethan Allen found that the only way to control their commitment to high quality production was by doing it themselves, by using regular detailed inspections and quality control measures that others found expensive to implement and maintain.
This allows the company to deal directly with customers. It helps them know their customers, what appeals to them or what is lacking, while remaining flexible enough to change and still deliver the best modern home decor.
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Promote Dreams Not Furniture
The company likes operating this way, even if it means smaller profits. They believe that when you ‘Promote Dreams, Not Just Furniture’, you create the best pieces by making them yourself.
This original quote comes from the company’s vision statement. It was drafted when the company was founded, and remains true today. Ethan Allen understands that people buy furniture to support and fulfill their dreams, for a home, lifestyle and life they love.
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Dreams come in different shapes, sizes and budgets. Ethan Allen crafts a broad range of items with different colors, materials, and patterns to deliver on their promise that they ‘Promote Dreams, Not Just Furniture’. Their “Why?” is to craft the perfect home for you. Their ‘How’ is by producing high quality items.
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Ethan Allen has moved this customer experience to their online store. The world has embraced online shopping and to be your first choice in modern home decor, they have embraced it too by creating a relevant domain name.
Years of experience, innovation, customer engagement and high quality products have made Ethan Allen popular. But it’s their understanding that customers buy to fulfill their dreams that has made them the successful company they are.