Association of Progressive Rental Organizations

Buddy’s Celebrates a Very Eventful Year

Michael Bennett, Patrick Greene, Tom Tucker, Steve Smith, Ryan Weisenfeld, and Chris Warso

Buddy’s Home Furnishings recently held its Annual Leadership Conference at the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort and Spa in Orlando, Florida. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Data Drives Decisions.” The event highlighted the success of the “Buddy’s System,” a field-tested, data–driven system of connecting products with consumers that outperforms the industry.

“Success in today’s business environment demands precise planning and execution,” says Michael Bennett Chief Executive Officer of Buddy’s NewCo LLC. “Our commitment to our franchisees is to provide a proven, unified model that integrates historical business data, purchasing, marketing and operations.”

The general session and breakout sessions focused on sharing data from every segment of the Buddy’s System. The data shows that stores following the system consistently outperform those that do not. Representatives from Google were on hand to cover the impact of Google on the American economy underscoring how the Internet can boost sales in the RTO business model. Bennett explains, “From purchase to first rental to exit, the Buddy’s System never loses sight of its primary objective – maximizing return on investment.”

The Buddy’s Purchasing Team organized a 32,000 plus square foot trade show with more than 40 vendors. “These shows just get bigger and better every year,” said Nina Shively, Director of Purchasing. This years’ show featured a mix of core products, holiday picks and new cutting-edge inventory that will be introduced into the stores in the near future. “This was our largest show to date and our vendor-partners really brought their “A” game,” shares Bennett. Orders written at the event grew exponentially over both the 2017 and 2018 shows. A new and exciting feature introduced was the revamped Buddy’s Purchasing Portal. Each franchisee was gifted with their very own ACER tablet that they were able to use to log in to the portal and place their show orders right at the vendor booth.

The company also held its first ever “Hot Show” event. “The vendors really pulled out all the stops for this one,” said Bennett. Franchisees were able to purchase goods at even deeper discounts than ordinarily offered and the competition was fierce between franchisees to secure these specials in preparation for the 2019 holiday season.

View pictures from the leadership meeting by clicking here!