"If Herman Miller, Knoll and Haworth Expand Their Retail Subsidiaries, They'll be Having RH for Lunch!" - 04/28/21 Edition
Stephen Says Column

 Dear Stephen,


 I am the VP of a medium-sized Steelcase dealer, and I take pride in knowing the details of what’s going on in my industry. The people in my dealership are thrilled about the promotion of Sara Armbruster to CEO of Steelcase. She has a history with Steelcase, and everyone I talk to believes she is ready to take the Steelcase brand to the next level. And that is just what we need.
 I’m writing today because all my salespeople, in fact just about everyone, are abuzz with Herman Miller’s new acquisition of Knoll. My customers are talking about it, friends of mine, other owners of dealers, manufacturers — everyone is talking about it! It’s all that anyone can focus on. We’re wasting more time in the office than ever before (and yes, we’re back to work in the office gossiping about the future of our rivals at Herman Miller and Knoll dealers. I’m wondering how it will affect our business and our employees. What do you think? Should I be recruiting from Herman Miller and Knoll dealers?
 And then there’s Haworth. Haworth was able to change its “image” with its customers and the A&D community by acquiring some of the top design companies from around the globe, both contract and residential. Haworth even owns a retailer in Luminaire, and It had bought Luminaire’s locations in California, Florida and Chicago — Luminaire will be popping up everywhere we see a DWR. They’re basically direct rivals. Herman Miller and Knoll already had the attention of the A&D community, and now the two companies together are a powerhouse in that space.
  I read your column a couple of months ago about the Haworth dealer in New York City, WB Wood, that dropped Herman Miller and became a Haworth dealer. Maybe they got the last laugh. What’s your take on all of this?
 
 — Distracted Dealer, Dumbfounded
 

 Dear Triple D,

  I hear you. This is all anyone wants to talk about. And who can blame them? It’s the biggest news in the furniture industry since I’ve been in it.
  I’m glad you brought up the promotion of Armbruster as the new CEO of Steelcase because that story sort of got lost in the midst of the Herman Miller and Knoll buzz. And everything you said about Armbruster is true, she’s a wunderkind. But let’s face it — so is Andi Owen from Herman Miller. Wow! We have a lot more women heading companies. Maxine Mann is at Teknion and Kourtney Smith is at National Office Furniture and Kimball. I’m sure there are many other women who I may be forgetting in this column, but I think it is important to take a moment to acknowledge this important historical moment. And we need even more diversity, which will make the industry wiser and stronger. It’s a multi-pronged historical moment with two iconic brands merging, women accepting leadership roles and let’s not forget, the sage leadership of Jim Keane guiding Armbruster to this new position.
 
 As far as who you should be recruiting next and what will happen in the dealer community, your guess is as good as mine. By the way, I wonder where HNI comes out in all of this?
 
 Short term, my intuition tells me Haworth and Steelcase can reap the rewards of concerns that customers may have issuing RFPs to a Knoll or Herman Miller dealer now, being unsure as to how that might be handled moving forward. Herman Miller and Knoll need to come out with a very clear-cut strategy for their dealers on how distribution will proceed — and fast. Any blink on that plan will give Haworth and Steelcase the upper hand to take a project or a salesperson for a dealer.
 
 Long term, however, the real winners are Herman Miller and Haworth. Owen and Franco Bianchi have created companies that could take on Gary Friedman and RH head-on. These two visionary leaders along with Andrew Cogan have curated a strong balance of luxury home brands, combined with quality office furniture, to take on global furniture needs.
 
 When you think about it — Herman Miller combined with Knoll, has the largest collection of iconic pieces of furniture in the world. By the same token, Haworth has the largest collection of luxury brands in the world—both contract and residential, indoor and outdoor. If these companies expand their retail subsidiaries, as I predict, they will be eating RH for lunch. If I were Warren Buffet, I’d be buying those two stocks, as well as what he’s invested in RH.
 
 As far as what you specifically should be doing in your Steelcase dealer, go back to business as usual. Herman Miller and Knoll have always been great brands, together they’re a better brand, and all of the sales employees (in my opinion) have nothing to worry about. And you at a Steelcase dealer, have a great brand as well.
 
 It’s fun to talk about exciting developments in our industry. But let’s focus on getting everyone to NeoCon in October and getting people who are still afraid to come back to work, back in the office.
 
 I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, whether you work at a furniture dealer or manufacturer, you sell office furniture. If you’re afraid to go into the office yourself, you have no business selling office furniture.
 
 Don’t worry about whether your customer is back at work yet, they’re not selling the furniture, they’re buying it. If they’re talking to you about furniture, they want to know you’re at work, and they want to see it, touch it and sit in it.
 
 Enjoy the gossip while you can, this will not be the last acquisition in our industry. At the end of the day, it’s OK to pay attention to what’s going on — but always be ready to move on to the next chapter. There’s going to be a lot more changes coming up in the furniture industry — maybe nothing this major in terms of manufacturing, but I predict a lot of dealers will be merging over the next year or two.
 
 Stephen
 
 You can send your workplace questions to Stephen at: StephenSays@bellow.press
 
 Questions selected to be answered will appear in this column. Please use the Subject: Stephen Says for all emails. Stephen Viscusi is a bestselling author, television personality, and CEO of the Viscusi Group, global executive recruiters based in New York. Follow Stephen on Twitter @StephenViscusi. Like Stephen on Facebook and follow him on LinkedIn.