Thriving on the Unexpected Savanna at Home, Bronxville, N.Y.
Story by Lisa Casinger -- Home Accents Today, 1/1/2005 - reprinted with permissionhome
When shoppers pop into the 3,000-square-foot Savanna at Home in Bronxville, N.Y., they expect the unexpected and owner Patty Canale thrives on that expectation.
"We've had customers tell us some of their favorite things in their homes came from our store," Patty said. "That's a great compliment."
Defining the store is difficult. One could say it's a furniture store, though accessories account for 20% of the business, as does Patty's in-home design service. It's a high-end store, though it carries everything from $2 tree ornaments to $18,000 bookcases. More traditional French Heritage furniture is mixed with Jamie Young lamps and the music thumping on the CD player could be anything from John Mayer or Frank Sinatra to an as yet undiscovered band or Patty's neighbor. There are elegant vignettes prominently displaying product as well as an overall feeling of undiscovered treasures.
"The store is very personal for us," Patty said. "It's who we are and what we love. It's comfortable even though a lot of the things are formal. Our customers are our neighbors and they find and discover new things here all the time."
Patty, husband Frank, sister-in-law Cecil and friends Lindy and Joan work in the store - how's that for keeping things personal? The store is named for Patty and Frank's daughter Savanna, and she jokes when they retire to the beach they'll open a bar named after their son Jake.
"This store is about a lifestyle change for us," Patty said. "I left the corporate atmosphere for my own store. I can attend the shows I want to. Right now I shop High Point and New York, and when the kids get older I'll go to more shows overseas. I buy what I like; I love what I'm doing and I can walk home from work."
Growing up, the native New Yorker knew she wanted to be involved in design or fashion in some way, but it wasn't until she got her MBA and moved to Boston when Frank's job transferred him, that Patty discovered her niche.
"I took a temp job working at Scandinavian Design," Patty said. "The store and headquarters were in this house in Natick and it was gorgeous. I loved it. I started right about the time Judy George was leaving and Bob Darvin was running the show."
The temp job turned into a permanent position, and four years later when Scandinavian Design went out of business Patty had worked her way up to buyer. She moved back to New York and answered an ad for a position with Bob's friend Evan Cole at ABC Home.
"I was very nervous going into that interview because I loved ABC," Patty said. "Evan was sitting there with no shoes on, his big dog beside him, very relaxed, with a stack of resumes on his desk. He said, 'Why don't you just calm down because you already have the job.' He'd talked to Bob who gave me a great reference."
Patty started as a buyer and 10 years later left as vice president and division merchandise manager of furniture. Though she loved working at ABC, there were changes in the air. It was the dot-com era. After rejecting several lucrative offers, Patty finally accepted an offer from the short-lived Living.com.home
"They folded in four months," Patty said. "They were open for a minute. Evan told me not to take it, but I did, and when it folded he offered me a job and I had interviewed at Bloomingdale's. But Frank showed me a location in Bronxville and said I should do my own thing. And though this never was my dream, I did it. It was unexpected."
When Patty opened the store on Sept. 6, 2001, she wasn't expecting the events of Sept. 11. She had an amazingly successful weekend. Looking back Patty says starting a business in the wake of the tragedies actually made her store better.
"We started off at such a lean and mean time it created a better beginning for us because when things got a little slow we thought what's the problem, we're fine, we started this way," Patty said. "Whereas stores that came out of a more profitable time were hit harder because they may have overbought and had huge inventories. Also, a lot of the people in Bronxville work downtown and they started coming home earlier, coming through town, spending more time at home and wanting to fix up their houses. So the small local stores actually benefited in a lot of ways. We made the best of it."
Patty also makes the best of her corner location. When shipments come in, trucks pull right up to the big bank doors in front, which is a combination driveway/parking area, and customers get excited watching all the product being unloaded and uncrated.
"It's their favorite time, when the store's a mess and there's tons of stuff coming in," she said. "It creates a lot of excitement."
She also drives traffic by displaying furniture outside the store, weather permitting, and using letters and postcards that usually include some sort of offer, as well as ads in local newspapers, the Westchester section of The New York Times and local magazines. Patty spends about 10% of her budget on advertising, and says she gets her money's worth.
"Advertising really works, newspapers especially," she said. "But I don't think radio and TV are good for our level of store. One thing I've found odd is that I can run an ad for upholstery, and I know the ad worked because of the sales that month, but the customers buy everything but the upholstery. If I advertise chandeliers, I sell upholstery."
Savanna at Home has three big sales events a year - an anniversary sale, sidewalk sale in June and a clearance sale. As for slow-moving merchandise, Patty remembers advice she gleaned from Mindy Katz at Scandinavian Design, "mark it low and watch it go." Though she never gives up on any product because she buys what she loves, when it's time to move it out she does one big markdown.
The store recently participated in its first benefit and donated half the proceeds to the local chapter of Meals on Wheels.
"We did it as a sort of thank you to our neighbors and as a way to give back to the community," Patty said. "We also had an art show featuring local talent. Many of our customers volunteer at our local Meals on Wheels, so it was a great community event. We sent out invitations and even if people didn't buy anything they donated money to the cause."
The product mix in Savanna at Home is constantly evolving and changing. With limited space and a 25% repeat customer base, Patty realized early on she couldn't carry every look and had to keep her stock fresh and inviting. Since her background was in furniture, Patty was hesitant at first to bring in accents, other than chandeliers and lighting.
"I really didn't want to do accessories; it wasn't what I knew," Patty said. "But my customer pretty much demanded it. Any little thing I brought in, they'd buy, so how could I not sell accessories?"
Savanna at Home carries everything from chandeliers, lighting and accent furniture to decorative pillows, rugs, wall decor and decorative accessories.
"We do a large chandelier business and the second best is accent furniture," Patty said. "To be unique and high end it doesn't have to be expensive but a lot of things are. One of my favorite chandelier vendors is Currey & Company; I love their stuff. They bring something new to the table every single market. I also carry Rosie; I worked with Lisa Nardone at ABC. She's creative and her stuff is fresh and beautiful. I also like Jamie Young, she's fun."
Patty enjoys mixing more modern looks with traditional and says this works well with the in-home design projects she tackles as well.
"Sometimes people say they don't want to put a modern sofa in their home and I say OK," she said. "Put some modern lamps and it freshens it up so it doesn't look like Grandma's house."
Patty won't carry bath and body in deference to the spa above her or photo frames out of respect for the store across the street.home
Though home accents weren't in her initial plans, Patty has grown to enjoy that aspect of the business. Her customers don't blink at spending $400 for a decorative pillow while she might have to spend 30 minutes describing every attribute of a similarly priced piece of furniture.
"In the past five years, the accessory people have made a huge dent in the furniture industry in High Point," Patty said. "Accessory vendors are there in record numbers and they're seeing how much they're selling because that's where the big spenders are. I find I'm buying accessories even there.
"What I like about the accessory business that isn't always true in furniture is there are a lot of small companies. They're small, talented, hardworking, creative people who are finding their way and it's fun to be part of that group and it's fun to support them the way I feel I'm being supported."
Patty does standard markups on most products, but when she brings in more unusual, hard-to-find products or antiques she prices accordingly. She shops the High Point and New York shows regularly, and while at ABC she did a lot of overseas buying, she's opted not to in her own store. She does have international contacts however, and frequently piggybacks orders, but she doesn't buy containers. Between markets she relies on sales reps, catalogs and the Internet for sourcing.
Her main issue with vendors is getting more accurate lead times, though this happens more on the furniture side of the business than with home accents.
"We do a lot of special orders, and we literally call weekly to check on them, as should most stores," Patty said. "My frustration is when we're given a five-week lead time and call the next week and it's now seven weeks."
The second issue is proactively responding to problems.
"If my customer has a problem, I take it back, there's no question," Patty said. "If you have a store and are buying at the level of product I'm buying, problems should be addressed immediately."
Patty is quick to point out while this is a disappointing part of the business, she's built many good relationships with vendors during her years in the business.
"The wonderful relationships I've had for more than 10 years are the reason I was able to open my store," she said. "These people came through for me because I had nothing to show but my handshake and they filled my store."
The biggest challenge Patty faces is finding unique product. To separate herself in other ways she capitalizes on great displays and service. Savanna at Home offers the same white-glove delivery service enjoyed by customers of ABC Home and Bloomingdale's. When customers started asking how they could get certain "looks" in their homes, Patty began her in-home design service, another business aspect that wasn't in her plan. Now her favorite part of the job, the in-home service is free, though the product is not. Jobs may be as small as placing and selling a mirror and two lamps or completing four or five rooms.
"I really think my store is beautiful, but as beautiful as it is, things look much more beautiful in a home because they're really where they need to be," Patty said. "Everything has room to breathe. You're not buying my level of furniture and putting it into an OK house; these homes are gorgeous. People just need help and not everyone's comfortable with a decorator. One of my best clients sold her house in Bronxville and bought another house and she said all the work I did in her house helped sell her house."
Another store service is the wish book in which customers can jot down specific pieces they're searching for. They might see a desk in the store but would prefer one smaller or larger or with more drawers. When the item comes in, the customer is called. Thanks to Frank, just about every item in the store has been photographed to provide customers with images, measurements and pricing for future reference.
Many of Patty's successes have stemmed not from planning but from happenstance and she says her best decision was letting Frank come to work with her full time.
"It wasn't in the plan, having both of our incomes from one place, but we were busy right away" Patty said. "We are absolutely opposites. He loves working on the computer; I touch it, it breaks. He loves the accounting and the numbers side; I'm more interested in the product. He hasn't been in retail his whole life so he brings a fresh innovative perspective to the business. And he's also incredibly strong, that's pragmatic but important. I couldn't have done this without him."
On the flip side, Patty says the most stupid thing she did centered on product. About two years ago she fell in love with outdoor cement tables and bought them for the store. Though they sold well, they were heavy and hard to move, quite a challenge for a small store that moves product around frequently. She sold them all.
"I bought them again," Patty said. "Needless to say, they're under cloth right now because it's not really the season for them. We can't move them, physically. Frank just shook his head at me; he doesn't know what to say when I do stuff like that. But I love those tables!"
At the end of the day, Patty is happy with her choices. Though she credits her Mom as the major influence in her life by inspiring her to work hard and be successful, Patty has turned a lot of unexpected and potentially negative moments into a thriving business and a lifestyle filled with family. She advises other retailers against listening to those who say not to hire family and friends. For her, she says, it's been the best thing she's ever done.
"You can count on them; they're your best confidants and they're invested in your business," Patty said. And in 20 years you can find Patty and Frank on the beach, opening Jake's Bar.
The leather sofa and chair from Jeffco's Peterman collection seem right at home with an antique coffee table, circa 1825. Owner Patty Canale isn't afraid to mix the old and new or the traditional and modern in her Bronxville store.
Furniture, like this game table from Theodore Alexander and the sofa from Old Hickory Tannery are big sellers, but accessories account for 20% of Patty's business with chandeliers, lighting and accent furniture topping the charts.
Though the overall look of Savanna at Home is formal, Patty livens up the atmosphere with music and accessories and helps customers achieve the look they want in their homes with free in-home design services.
Patty Canale, above, entered the industry by chance more than a decade ago and worked her way through the ranks before launching her own store in 2001. Chandeliers and lighting, top, are one of Patty's top-selling accent categories and she mixes traditional and formal looks from Currey & Company with more modern aesthetics from Jamie Young.
Savanna at Home
YEAR COMPANY FOUNDED 2001
LOCATION Bronxville, N.Y.
SIZE 3,000 square feet
EMPLOYEES 5 - includes savanna