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Banking on KC – Stuart Wilkins of Seville Home

 

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Kelly Scanlon:

Welcome to Banking on KC. I'm your host, Kelly Scanlon. Thank you for joining us. With us on this episode is Stuart Wilkins, the co-owner of Seville Home, a family owned, custom artisan made furniture retailer, located at 135th and Nall in Leawood. Welcome, Stuart.

Stuart Wilkins:

Thank you. Nice to be with you, Kelly.

Kelly Scanlon:

What do customers find when they enter your showroom?

Stuart Wilkins:

Hopefully inspiration. Our intent on the visual experience and how we present the store. We're in our 24th year and the first person we hired is still with us today as a visual merchandiser. And we present our product in room settings and vignettes. And so for the customer, when they come in, they can see how the product works together. We don't put all the dining room tables together and all the beds together. This is far more interesting. And with a 20,000 square foot showroom, there's lots to see and it's constantly moving and changing.

Kelly Scanlon:

Well, I even read somewhere that some customers will come in because the person that stages these does such a fine job. They'll look at it and say, "I want that." And they buy the room.

Stuart Wilkins:

Yes. Well, we have great designers on staff. But when that happens, when the customer takes the rug, the sofa, the chairs, the coffee table, console table, maybe even the wall art, we're pleased that they see it like it and want it, but we have to rib the designer a little bit. It's like, well, maybe you should be sharing your commission with Sherry, the visual merchandiser. But it's a compliment to her and to Seville Home that people see it and are inspired.

Kelly Scanlon:

It certainly is. Tell us a little bit about the kind of furniture that we will see there.

Stuart Wilkins:

We've evolved over the years. When we first opened, and my wife, Sue, and I, we didn't have a background in furniture. We had a background in retail businesses, so we knew the nuts and bolts, but we've had to learn and develop a taste level and a point of view. And early on, we were doing direct importing from India and Mexico, and there was these casual, imperfect but fun pieces, and we were mixing them with entry level sofas, chairs, but it was fun. At that time, there was no RH or Our House or the other lifestyle brands in this market, so there was a space for us. But as you go on and the market changes, when Nebraska Furniture Market came into our market, we had to hustle pretty quick to figure out, well, what's going to set us apart from them?

And we realized being in South Johnson County, that our opportunity was to trade up and do better products and lines. And we continued to show value. And we've always said there's value at any price point. You could have a value on a thousand dollars sofa or value on a $8,000 sofa. Our sweet spot is custom upholstery, whether that be fabric or leather. We have, I would say, the biggest fabric leather resource library of any showroom in the city. And the brands that we're attracted to best with are domestic and usually family-owned businesses. And there's just a kindred relationship there.

And so for our top upholstery vendors, we've been their customer or partner, as we like to say, for 5, 10, 15 years, just depending. We would say that upholstery is probably what we do best, but even down to our accessories, we carry wall art and tabletop accessories that, I promise you, you won't see anywhere else in this market. And the customer has encouraged us over the years, and we gained confidence with their reaction and response, and then having the visual component to show it all together. Of course I'm biased, but I think we do a great job of bringing unique special product to this market.

Kelly Scanlon:

Yeah. I read a stat somewhere that there's an astounding number of retail furniture stores out there, something like 50,000 across the country and around 300 right here in Kansas City, a mix of smaller and the big bucks like the Nebraska Furniture Mart you mentioned. In addition to the products that you carry that you just described, how eclectic they are and how custom they are, what else sets you apart from all those other retailers?

Stuart Wilkins:

I would say that it's our team of folks from the designers, the sellers, to the office, to the warehouse. We have very long tenured people come to Seville Home. And together we've developed this nice respectful culture. And I think the customers, they pick up on that. And we're a family-owned business, and so if we break something, we take care of it. We provide service on things that would be out of manufacturer's warranty if we think it's a legitimate claim.

Kelly Scanlon:

You mentioned that you and your wife didn't start out in the furniture business. So what was the path that led you from your previous endeavors to Seville Home?

Stuart Wilkins:

Well, I was transferred to Kansas City in 1990 as a Wolf Bros store manager. And some of your older listeners might remember Wolf Bros. And at that time, they had a store at Metcalf South, Ward Parkway right here on the plaza. And a small shop downtown at Town Pavilion. I managed the small downtown. It was a beautiful little store. Unfortunately, downtown was not what it is today. And so your only opportunity was with the business folks downtown. And it was before Casual Friday and all of that, so people still dressed. But within a couple of years, Wolf Bros decided that they were ready to exit the market. I was concerned like, "Well, what am I going to do? I still felt new in the city." But they assured me and said, "Well, why don't you stay with us? It's going to take a year longer to liquidate everything."

Well, I ended up being their last employee. We had auctions, we sold trucks and presses and all kinds of things. But in that process, met a lot of wonderful Kansas City people. And so then when I had to find new employment, it just so happened that Jos. A. Bank was entering this market with their 56th store, and now they have 300, I think. But that was at Hawthorne Plaza at 119th and Roe. And that proved to be a great experience. I hadn't really worked in a corporate environment, but it was hard work.

It was a great store. I assume it's still a great store, but that was my path. And then my wife, she also was in retail. She fashioned merchandising from Kansas State University, went through the Dillard's trainee program, moved to St. Louis back to Kansas City. But she ended up as a store manager for Stein Mart. So there was a store at Oak Park Mall that was a high volume, busy, busy store. And so she had lots of experience as well with running a store, but managing people, hiring people, probably a little more HR experience than I had. So we made a pretty good team.

Kelly Scanlon:

You do. A lot of complimentary skills there. But when did you decide to make the big leap?

Stuart Wilkins:

We had done nothing but work and got married when we were in our mid to late thirties and decided, well, we want to have a family. Clock's ticking, but we do. We've got a couple of beautiful daughters today. But we quickly realized that the hours involved Sue closing Stein Mart on a Saturday night, not getting home till 11 or something, that just wasn't ideal for a family. And we were always very interested in home furnishings just as our own passion. And I wouldn't necessarily say that this is the path anyone should take, but we took the leap.

And oddly, there was so much we didn't know, but in an odd way, it might've been a blessing because we made our own mistakes. We figured things out on our own, and we didn't have a preconceived idea that something could work or not work. My father-in-law, Sue's dad, had a business here in Kansas City designing materials, longtime customer of the bank, and he's actually the one that introduced us to Country Club Bank. But he encouraged us. And at that point, we didn't have the resources, but with his relationship with the bank, things came together and that's where we started. And we continue to be a customer of the bank. They've been a great support component for us.

Kelly Scanlon:

Are there any similarities between wearable fashions and fashionable furniture that have benefited you there at Seville Home?

Stuart Wilkins:

I think fashion is fashion. It doesn't matter what the product is. Certainly if you need a chair or a sofa, you can just go buy something that serves that purpose, the utility. But we've always cared about how things looked. And then of course, the comfort component, how they were built, the quality.

Kelly Scanlon:

You're often credited by your peers as being able to forecast trends in furniture and then being able to give them a uniquely Kansas City interpretation. What are some of the biggest trends that you're seeing now among customers?

Stuart Wilkins:

Well, we just got back from the October market in High Point. And had the opportunity when we were there to go into beautiful showrooms. And colors are changing. Everything is much warmer. A few years ago, it was all neutral, lots of white, beige, cream, gray walls. And it felt fresh at the time. Well, that doesn't feel quite as fresh now. And so the colors are definitely getting warmer. We're seeing brown, but not ugly brown, just real tasteful. Could be a raisin color or a lean more towards a yellow. We're seeing blues and greens. And even in the showrooms, their wall colors now are much warmer in one showroom, and the walls were chocolate brown of all things.

And it was stunning. I mean, it created a mood and it looked great for what they were presenting. Also saw a lot of plaid. I would describe it as a men's wear plaid. If you can think of a handsome men's sport coat, you're seeing those type of applications maybe on chairs with a leather sofa or something. It's very tasteful. And it felt like Ralph Lauren had designed the showroom. So I think that's where we're at and where we're going as far as a color palette and inspiration.

Kelly Scanlon:

Given all your years in the industry, what would you say creates a lasting look though? One that transcends time so that somebody doesn't walk into a house and say, "Oh, that's so 2010." What would you say? What are the qualities that make something lasting?

Stuart Wilkins:

We don't sell sets of anything. We insist. We might agree to sell you matching nightstands, but we would probably show you a different option. We think a more curated look, mixing, making it a little bit unexpected, taking things from people's travels that might matter to them, that warms up the room. But the idea of a bedroom being matching pieces of wood, like the wood bed and wood nightstands, that's going to look dated pretty quick.

Kelly Scanlon:

We've heard a lot about how the pandemic fostered a surge in home remodeling. People were cocooning and living and working in their homes, teaching their kids their lessons, they're in their homes. Did it change the way people use various rooms? And if it did, how's that affecting your furniture selection?

Stuart Wilkins:

Well, COVID definitely had a huge impact on not only Seville Home, but on our industry. We had the mandated shutdown to the public for however many weeks that was, and we had some really big projects going. And so yes, our doors were locked. Customers weren't coming in, but we had to let some independent designers who are a big part of our business into work on some very ambitious projects that were on tight timelines. So we safely did what we needed to do, painted the showroom, took inventory, all the things that are harder to do when you're open, but we had no idea what to expect when we reopened. But within a matter of a week, it was like something's changed. This is different. And so the demand for home furnishings, we'll never probably see it again. It was really remarkable. For our industry, the timelines for production got to be so long.

They had trouble keeping their factories healthy. There were foam shortages, things you never even think about, but it impacted. And so pre-COVID, if you would ask, if I ordered this sofa today, how long would it be? We wouldn't even think about it. We'd go, "Oh, six to eight weeks." Well, it became 8 to 12 months, but they just kept ordering. And I kept ordering. I was buying inventory every day because some folks were so determined that the prettiest sofa was the one that was available. But that's obviously changed a little bit. When we look at our comp numbers, we're looking at 2019, how do we compare today to 2019? Because those years in between, it was like-

Kelly Scanlon:

They were outliers.

Stuart Wilkins:

Drinking from a fire hose, it was a sugar high you. It was beyond our control. But I will say I was proud of Seville Home and the apparatus that we had in place to really ride that demand.

Kelly Scanlon:

Yeah. You mentioned the independent designers. That's a growing part of your relationship. Talk to us about that.

Stuart Wilkins:

Kansas City has a big number of very talented independent designers. By that, I mean these are folks that maybe they have their own studio, maybe they don't. Maybe they do it from home office, whatever, but they have clients. And it could be for a remodel, it could be for a new home build, it could be for furniture, it could be for whatever. And we have developed and really cherished that relationship with the independent designers. And we've come up with a way that they can quietly be compensated for doing business with us. And we track everything. But last year, it represented 30% of our total volume, and it continues to grow.

So we'd really give them an option away from just to the trade showroom. And by that, what that means is only the design world can shop there. You can't just stumble in. But the way we can compete with that is we will own more inventory. And so the husband that wants his new leather chair, he's not usually comfortable ordering that looking at a catalog picture. Whereas he can come into Seville Home and he can sit in 20 leather chairs and find one just right. That's what we offer that I think sets us apart. But it's a very important piece of our business. And some of these designers, they have such a high-end clients. We never meet the client.

Kelly Scanlon:

You mentioned some of the buy-in trips that you and your wife have been on, and I know that you've talked about the custom pieces that you specialize in. What's been maybe your most memorable piece that you've come across?

Stuart Wilkins:

Oh, gosh. Too many to mention, but I would say we do a nice job with really beautiful cabinets, for example. Like credenzas, buffets. But not run of the mill. These are jewelry pieces that are just wow, when you see them. And we have a couple of resources for those. And again, if I sound like I'm bragging, I guess I am. But you won't see that product in Kansas City anywhere except at Seville Home.

Kelly Scanlon:

As an entrepreneur in the custom furniture business, and with all of the experience you've had in retail prior to that, what advice would you give to a business person who's listening today? If you could leave them with one piece of advice for growing their business, what would it be?

Stuart Wilkins:

You have to believe in your vision and your own ability, and it's not easy. I don't think it was meant to be easy. But it's one step at a time. Just keep dreaming and believing, and it's relationships. I would say that's the most important thing to Seville Home is the personal relationships, the business relationships, the customer relationships, and we feel blessed to own a business in Kansas City. I think the sense of community in Kansas City is so strong.

Kelly Scanlon:

Absolutely. Thank you so much for coming in, Stuart, and sharing your story about Seville Home and what led you to Seville Home. And really whetting our appetite, so to speak, to go in and see some of these marvelous pieces that you have there in your store.

Stuart Wilkins:

You can find us at sevillehome.com. You can follow us on Facebook or Instagram. Or more importantly, you can come into the store Monday through Saturday, 10:00 to 5:00, 135th and Nall.

Kelly Scanlon:

Thank you so much.

Stuart Wilkins:

Thank you, Kelly.

Joe Close:

This is Joe Close, president of Country Club Bank. Thank you to Stuart Wilkins for being our guest on this episode of Banking on KC. Family owned, committed to client service and satisfaction, relationship driven, decades of serving the Kansas City community. According to Stuart those are some of the key ingredients responsible for Seville Home success during the past 20 years. They're the same characteristics that Drive Country Club Bank, and have enabled us to successfully serve clients like Seville Home for seven decades. If you're looking for a family owned bank that values relationships, makes decisions locally and understands entrepreneurs, we'd love the opportunity to talk with you. Thanks for tuning in this week. We're banking on you, Kansas City. Country Club Bank, member FDIC.