Business in Vancouver's "How I Did It" feature asks business leaders to explain in their own words how they achieved a business goal in the face of significant entrepreneurial challenges. In this week's issue, Sara Samieian, co-owner and general manager of Moe's Home Collection, explains how she helped her family-owned business increase profits through a recession that saw several competitors close.
"My father, Moe, started the company about 25 years ago, and I started working full time right after university about eight years ago. I went to work for our wholesale division, which at that time was based in San Francisco. A year later I moved back to Vancouver.
"In April 2009, we had a store in Vancouver and we had just closed a second store that we had on Granville Street. We had one store in Seattle and one store in Federal Way [Washington], and our wholesale division was still based in California.
"When 2009 came along, both wholesale and retail were dipping a bit. At our Terminal store – our flagship store – sales were low, staff was complaining, the store wasn't looking good. Nobody was looking forward to coming to work, and when you have a staff that is not happy, you will never be successful. Things just weren't running like they should be.
"One day, Moe Senior basically fired the manager and assistant manager and said, 'Sara, I need you to run the store.' I worked with the staff and listened to their ideas. My staff now have huge input into our business. When we're buying product, we always come to the staff and get their feedback.
"I was not a manager that sits in an office. I am on the floor. I'm constantly around my customers and around my staff, and I hear things that people are saying to the staff. If I have work to do on the computer, I do it at the cash desk and I personally help customers. It gives me feedback.
"I'd say 2010 was a pretty bad year for quite a few companies. Nood went out of business, Yaletown Sofa went out of business, Koolhaus went out of business. But we increased [sales] every month. I think our product selection and my staff were what made us different. In retail, if you don't have a good staff, I really don't believe you'll ever be successful.
"What makes us different than most other retailers is, since we have wholesale and retail, our buying power is increased significantly. We go direct to factories and we design product.
"Because we are a wholesaler and a retailer, that gives us a huge buying power. A pillow that I sell for $9, if you go to most other stores, pillows are over $30, and that's because I buy 500 pillows at a time and I buy them direct from the manufacturer.
"We also changed our buying strategy. Our store now carries probably 70% Moe's products, but it also carries 30% of other brands. It was pretty much exclusively Moe's before. I shop my competition. I go to other furniture stores every couple of weeks and check things out and see what other people are doing and make sure I stay ahead of the game."
