Lovesac Official Company Blog

My Thursday Thought: Resolutions

[An email to all Lovesac employees]

Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.
Cavett Robert

One of the weirdest things about being in a retail business is that while everybody else is making new year’s resolutions and starting over after December, our (fiscal) year doesn’t end until the end of January. So there’s still time! If you’re anything like me, I’m still sorting out exactly what to learn from last year and what to improve on in this one. And if you’re anything like 55% of Americans, then you aren’t even going to make resolutions—it seems to be a dying tradition.

I, myself, believe in New Year’s resolutions. I believe in being introspective and making resolutions to improve oneself or one’s condition at anytime of year for that matter. But there is no better excuse to do so than a new year, and by virtue of your employment, you’ve got another chance, in case you missed the first. Hooray for the retail fiscal calendar! Whether thinking about what you need to do to improve yourself, or contemplating what you can do to improve Lovesac—all resolutions are encouraged, and needless to say, we need all the help we can get.

So I would just encourage all of you to not only make resolutions, if you haven’t, and then be resolute—and beat the odds. Because they say only 20% of resolutions are ever achieved.

As a company we did better than the American retail industry, in general—and in general, I think we can do better as a group than America.

Here’s to excellence in 2013!

-- Shawny

Giving Thanks

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
-- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

I am thankful for my family...and I am thankful for you (my fellow Sac'rs).

Exactly ten years ago I ate my Thanksgiving dinner at some obscure Vietnamese restaurant outside of Denver Colorado. I was breaking my back to personally drive a trailer full of Sacs that was desperately needed by a Lovesac franchisee for the big Black Friday weekend. I was grateful to even find somewhere to sit down and eat that day, and as fond as my memories are of those early days of the Sac, they simply do not compare with even the most humdrum night (or morning) spent with my own family—let alone a holiday at home with them. I know that it is YOUR efforts that afford me this great pleasure—and I am extremely grateful for that.

I am so grateful for my family, as I’m sure most of you are as well. In my case, JFK’s words (above) mean to me that I must live up to the gratitude which I profess. This is exactly why I am so grateful for you. Because of YOUR efforts; because of YOUR hard work; because of YOUR expertise in your particular role—be it the logistics crew at HQ, the sales lead on the floor of our most remote store, the finance crew who make sure we all get paid, the design crew that have made us all look good, the retail crew who is pacing the floor right now, or the customer service and web crews who are losing sleep at this moment over every sale that is being made or not made, even now. Regardless of your role here, I am truly grateful for your efforts because THAT IS EXACTLY THE REASON I AM ABLE TO “LIVE UP TO” MY GRATITUDE FOR MY FAMILY BY SPENDING SOME TIME WITH THEM this Thanksgiving, instead of driving a truck to Colorado, or whatever else might be otherwise necessary.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving!

Love the one you’re with.

-- Shawny

Mitt Romney Goes Gangnam Style

Guess who came to our Halloween Party? I'll give you a hint: It was a bunch of Mormon's in New Canaan Connecticut. But who knew it'd come to this...

 

 

-- Shawny

Life Size Zen Garden at Lovesac Headquarters

The other day our amazing photographer, Roger Hagadone, was shooting for us here at Lovesac HQ. He was so enthralled with the same old view we take in every day, he set up a tripod in my office and clicked a shot every 2 seconds...all day long.  Some people have those mini Japanese "zen gardens" on their desk, complete with sand, rocks, and a tiny rake. When I get stressed I just stare out the window from my office here at Lovesac HQ in Stamford, CT.  It is especially theraputic on a clear day. Check out the time lapse vid...

Introducing: Pepper D

I'd just like to indulge myself for a moment in a celebration of the latest introduction to the second generation Lovesac family....Pepper D Nelson. We always wait until the baby arrives to decide on a name, and this time we even waited until the birth to discover she was a girl! Given her coloring, and her obvious tenacious will to be born, "Pepper" it was. Let me explain...

Pepper was born less than 48 hours ago on March 8th, 2012 in Greenwich Connecticut. Tiffany (my amazing wife) was so bent on starting the clock ticking on the requisite "two-nights stay" at the hospital that I swear she MADE this birth happen at 5 minutes before midnight. 

You see, when we checked in at around 10pm on Thursday night, the check-in nurse checked her out and explained that from what she could see it would take another couple of hours of her exherting herself, walking around the hospital, in order to move along the birthing process.                                                            

We left the room, Tiffany now dressed in a hospital gown and sneakers, walked around for 15 minutes then Tiffany headed straight for the stairs. I tried to keep up for the first five minutes. 3 flights of stairs, down, then up, then down again more than half-a-dozen times. I took a breather on the last two laps but Tiffany was determined...and I believe the baby was equally determined to be born because against the nurse's most educated guessing, about 30 minutes later, at 11:55pm, Pepper was born according to plan.  Immediately after it all, and Tiffany looks more beautiful than ever. (She really is my hero)

Instantly I have 3 of the most beautiful girls in the world under one roof and I couldn't be more thankful. Pepper's older sister, Lucky, is almost 4 and, according to her, is totally ready to take care of her little sister singlehandedly.

...It'll now be up to me and Duke (2 years old in June) to balance this place out...but, to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

 

 

 

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR WELL WISHES AND SUPPORT THUS FAR!

--Shawny D

 

BTW: In a couple of weeks I'll be launching a new blog called "Life on a couch." Stay tuned to learn more about Pepper D and the whole Lovesac fam...and more importantly, share YOUR own stories about YOUR life on a couch. 

 

Live on QVC tonight!

Its live....It is TV....Its Q.V.C.  

9pm EST I'll be live on QVC selling the best deal on a Pillowsac Rocker Package that we've had the entire year. Not only will it be a great price, but it'll be broken down into a few easy payments through QVC! 

Why are we finally doing QVC!? For years we have been perfecting and refining our Sactionals. Along the way, they have not only taken over our sales at Lovesac (we sell more Sactionals than Sacs now), but we believe/hope/know that Sactionals is just one of those products that nearly everyone on the planet needs, somewhere in their home--they just don't know about it yet. We believe that Sactionals are the iPod of furniture. That said, we don't have the tens-of-millions to throw at TV ads, billboards, and the like to tell people how they work, as Apple did. 

In thinking about Sactionals, TV seems to be a good fit. They have so many demonstrable qualityies. You can move them around, reconfigure them, rearrange them, change their covers, decorate, accent, makeover, etc, etc. We'd like to explore the idea of doing some kind of direct TV campaign with them...but a nice one, like Bose or Dysons has done. We've discovered that QVC is a great way to test the product's validity as an on-air sale, so just as we were ramping up to do a Sactionals program on QVC, they asked us to put together a Sac gift item for them for the Holiday season. 

Tonight I'll be showing a Pillowsac Rocker Package, complete with the Pillowsac (which turns into a guest-rest), a Pillowsac Cover (Coffee, Latte, or Red Velvish), a Rocker Frame, and two matching Throw Pillows to help tie the Pillowsac into your home decor. If you know anyone who's ever wanted a deal on a Sac, tune in! Call in! Tonight I'll be "that guy."

["Gift hour with Rick and Shawn" 9pm EST which is 8pm Central, 7pm MST, and 6pm Pacific)

-- Shawny D.

Introducing............Lovesac

THE RUMORS ARE TRUE!!! Lovesac has a new logo! In fact, Lovesac has a new--lot of things. A new look, a new store design, new products--oh yeah, and a whole new customer base. Somewhere over the last 10 years of retail stores, Lovesac evolved from me and my college buddies making giant Sacs of foam for our college buddies, to a furniture concept that sells entire room set-ups to mostly families and soccer moms. This new customer, often spending thousands with us on a huge Sactionals configuration, a wool rug, end tables, a coffee table and a lamp, also spends hours in our stores working with our staff to design their room--right alongside the endless stream of youth who sometimes make a running leap into our store to jump on a Sac. Lovesac's new store concept is designed to facilitate those design-focused convesations and to "tell" those customers that this unlikely little closet-of-a-furniture-store is for them.   [click photos to enlarge]

Since early 2011 we been working very closely with one of the greatest architectural and branding firms in the world, Pompei A.D., to re-design not only our logo, but our entire store concept and brand ethos. It has been an effort involving the entire design team and nearly everyone at Lovesac HQ. The biggest part effort was in helping Pompei understand this crazy brand and the walking oxymoron that we are in an effort to unearth that core nugget that makes us Lovesac and then from that build out the embodiement of our brand: the new store. This is the result. 

Pompei’s own ethos revolves around creating transformational brand experiences by integrating commerce, culture, and community. This brand ethos aligns well with Lovesac’s own culture and mission statement of "Building the greatest furniture brand for the world putting a Lovesac product in every home; making people's lives more comfortable."  We pride ourselves on building a unique culture where we work hard to create a real commercial opportunity that will be a great thing for the world.

Our first of these new concept stores just opened at the Woodlands Mall, in Houston, TX. At a whopping 1100 square feet (about the size of most of our neighbor's storage rooms) , It is a relatively large Lovesac store in one of the best retail centers in the U.S.

One of the most innovative and unique features of the new Lovesac stores is found in the “consultation area” of the store.  This is the place where we bring a customer after they have experienced the Sac or had a Sactionals demo. This hub table has shelving and drawers loaded with everything from swatch books to Sactionals Blocks, allowing for seamless and easy conversations centered around designing customer’s homes and completing their rooms.

Probably the most valuable products of this exercise has been Pompei’s helping us to crystallize our own brand guideposts. These guideposts not only help describe to us our own customers’ personalities, but they also  will help direct everything from our store design, to  our communications. You can see one practical application of these new brand guideposts in our approach to organizing and showcasing our Custom Order fabrics (see Other New Introductions section above). By way of example, this new approach is an effort not to show the fabrics to customers by like-price, but by like appeal--that is, by grouping them according to the above four guideposts, hopefully our practical-minded customers seeking a “practical” fabric for their family sectional covers will find what they’re looking for within our new practical swatch book--without having to confuse them with too many choices.

Each wall is adorned with selected groupings of Lovesac fabrics that align with our new band guideposts arranged in geometric patterns. This makes our concept of "buy the furniture and choose whatever covers you like" more intuitive and obvious to first-time customers.

The goal is to evolve all of these new fixtures and shelving into products that can actually be sold to cusomters as tables and book-cases, etc, for home use--thus maximizing our compact sales floor, in true Lovesac style.

 

 Lovesac’s new logo is not really a logo at all--but a logo concept. Put simply, it is a word mark using a ketchupa font with a weighted and shaped underline placed inside of either a simple, black icon, or a photographic “portal.” We will see dozens, even hundreds of iterations of this logo over time as it will change with each application and even season--a logo as dynamic as our brand.

There are two more of these new concept stores slated to open in 2011.  Stonestown, in San Francisco, CA in late November, and a re-location of our store in Lenox, in Atlanta, GA in early December. Each of these stores is a different size and shape and we expect to learn a lot from seeing our customers’ reaction to this new store concept in these 3 different markets. 

In 2011 we opened 15 new stores. Our plans for new store openings in 2012 will likely be slightly less ambitious. Rather, we plan to re-fit and remodel many existing stores and focus on the training and development of our people and sytems in an effort to raise our own abilities in customer service, interior design, and even product offering to match the level of these new, more sophisticated stores.

We still have a LONG way to go--but I think we're on our way.

Check it out--let me know what you think.

-- Shawny D.

Duke of LoveSac

 He's here!  The new Duke of LoveSac.  

The long awaited 4th member of the Nelson family is home from the hospital and lookin’ good.  So is mom.  He will forever be known to the world as: Duke D. Nelson.  (no middle name, just the initial “D”)

Born on Jun 13, 2010, Duke measured in at lanky 19.5” long.  He has nearly the same haircut as Lucky did when she first joined us, and chicken legs to boot.  He’s definitely got those Nelson-like basketball star genes. Tiffany is doing well too--its just good to be home.

Thank you to all of your for your well wishes on Facebook and otherwise.  Its been great to be home so much this summer so far. With all of the LoveSac store openings coming up, I should be so lucky. Hope you’re all having a great summer yourselves. 

-- Shawny D.

And the Winner of Name Our Baby Is....

 What's in a name???  One of my favorite books that I've read over the last few years is "The Undercover Economist." In this book, the author shares a study done on a family who named one of their sons "Winner," and one of their sons, "Loser."  (Yes, this actually happened....ah, the '60's.)  Anyway, surprising to some, by their 30's Winner was addicted to drugs and on a downward spiral.  Loser enjoyed a successful career as a police office and an upstanding member of his community.  

So, with that in mind, I give you my (and Tiff's) top 3 favorite suggestions, from your comments on my previous blog bost, to the naming our first born son....but first some honorable mentions....

HONORABLE MENTION: "Stone Cold Pilot"

Stone Cold Pilot

Posted by: Jodi | May 26, 2010 at 10:32 AM

--I actually REALLY like this one.  Yes, the whole thing. But I'm pretty sure it's just not in the cards.  I mean, with a name like that, who's gonna mess with you.  Although, I'm pretty sure if anyone asks his name and he responds "Stone Cold Pilot," there is really only one response: "What?"

HONORABLE MENTION: "Charm, Chance"

I think the best name choice would be "Charm" (Lucky Charm) or "Chance" (Lucky Chance). It would fit great with Lucky and it's pretty awesome, I think.

Posted by: Joshua Hintz | May 24, 2010 at 05:00 PM

--You're in good company Joshua.  My own grandmother actually suggested BOTH of those names.  I guess "Lucky" just leads one's mind there.  As fitting as Chance or Charm may seem, I'm afraid they're just a little too obvious to be ironic.  Corny maybe!?

HONORABLE MENTION: "Mandela"

Was going to suggest Chance but it was already used. That's the name! If not, how about Ozzie? Ricky? Mandela?

Posted by: Ken | May 24, 2010 at 03:16 PM

Mandela Nelson.  Clever.  Definitely legendary....but just too hard to pull off as a white boy.

HONORABLE MENTION: "Rocket"

ROCKET NELSON.. Contest over.

Posted by: D-Train | May 24, 2010 at 10:52 AM

--Rocket Nelson is what my oldest sister Kristy has been suggesting for 5 years.  So, again, you're in good company D-train.

OKAY, NOW FOR THE WINNERS (no pun intended)

WINNER, TOP PICK #3 "Sonny D."

Looking at this from a marketing standpoint I think it's a best bet that you should name your boy Sonny. Think about this.. 

1) Seeing as we have ShawnY, TiffinaY, and LuckY, for consistency's sake, it's pretty imperative to have your son's name end with Y! 

2) Seeing as he's your first born son and eventual heir to your empire, Sonny would be perfect! Anybody ever see a lil' movie called The Godfather?? (and you'll know he'll be protective of his sister!) 

3) There would be nothing cooler on this planet than having the name Sonny D!!! Kiss my butt soda and purple stuff!!! 

I rest my case :)

Posted by: Keith | May 24, 2010 at 08:23 PM

--Gotta love the mental process exhibited here.  Also, how can anyone argue with "Kiss my butt soda and purples stuff!!!"???

WINNER, TOP PICK #2 "Tortilla Nelson"

Ok, I would like to share one of my all time favorite unique names with you Shawn. Don't worry it is not ghetto or uber mexican, although Tortilla Nelson would be rad!! You ready for it?? Ok here it is.. HURKAMER!! Epic right? I heard it in one of my anatomy classes.. I can't remember what it means but I know it wasn't bad..lol..Good Luck with the baby names, they all good picks!!

Posted by: Candy | May 24, 2010 at 01:48 PM

--Candy, I can't say that "Hurkamer" does anything for me.  Keep it in anatomy class.  But "Tortilla Nelson"....wow.  That would definitely be unforgettable.

WINNER, TOP PICK #1 "Judge, Asher"

Judge or Asher

Posted by: Candice S | May 25, 2010 at 04:54 PM

With none of the explanation of some of my favorites from above, all I can do is guess at cause for the accuracy of these suggestions, but both Judge and Asher are on our short list of names for actual consideration.  So, hats off to you Candice.  If this were a game of horse shoes or hand grenades, you win...but this is baby naming, not something to be taken lightly....and, you've won anyway.  So congratulations, really.  I'll be emailing Keith, Candy, and Candice to find out if y'all want a Nooder or a FootSac.  Thanks to all of you for contributing!  it was generally un-helpful.

*BTW: This does not mean I will be naming my son Sonny, Tortilla, Judge or Asher - just for the record. Thanks to you all for the comments.  We loved them.

 --  Shawny D. (and Tiff)

Name My Son

 So, not that its any of your business, but my first son will be born some time in June!!!  We have yet to choose a name.  Our 2-year-old daughter, Lucky Nelson, can't wait to have a little brother to show who's boss.  With a sister like Lucky the naming bar is set pretty high so we need all of the ideas we can get.

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR NAME IDEAS BY COMMENTING HERE ON MY BLOG (CLICK HERE)....wether we use your name or not, we will send our top 3 picks your choice of a Nooder blanket-dog or a LoveSac FootSac Blanket.

As this kid undoubtedly be heir to my (eventual) home furnishings empire, dominating TV rooms worldwide, he he's gotta have a strong name; a legendary name; name to live up to, as THIS is the crap little _________ D. Nelson will be fighting against (watch the following video, see if it makes you laugh as hard as it made me laugh--or maybe its just a furniture-guy-thing)....

-- Shawny D., Tiffany, Lucky, and __________