 |
Eye-catching displays, superior service and a showy selection of nautical decor have made Paine’s Patio one of the most popular stores in Cape Cod.
BY SHARON SANDERS
 |
| Paine’s Patio in Cape Cod is a favorite shopping spot for locals and seaside vacationers. |
 |
| Furniture and accessories with a nautical theme are the main attractions at Paine’s Patio. |
A flash of color jumps out at drivers cruising down Route 28 in scenic Cape Cod: 20 vibrant adirondack chairs in eye-catching reds, greens, oranges, pinks and blues are lined up neatly on a manicured lawn. The curious crane their necks as they pass, but the serious pull up to Paine’s Patio to see more. This simple (yet effective) marketing idea has people calling Paine’s the store with the adirondack chairs, and is the reason that 50 percent of Paine’s customers stop in for the first time. It is just one of many ideas that owner Douglas Shearer and his wife Kristin have come up with to make Paine’s Patio one of the most well-known casual- and outdoor-furnishings stores in and around Cape Cod, Mass.
Shearer knew from the beginning exactly what the store should be: a mix of casual outdoor and indoor furniture and accessories with a nautical twist. “Our customers are primarily vacationers and people who live, or own second homes, on the Cape,” he says. “They are looking for products that reflect the seaside feel of the area.”
With 11 other patio stores within a 50-mile radius, Shearer knew that he had his work cut out for him, but he was up to the challenge.
Creating Awareness
During his first two years in business, Shearer flooded the market with advertising in media from local radio to magazines and newspapers. “There wasn’t a media outlet in the area that didn’t carry a mention of Paine’s Patio,” he remembers. Shearer spent about 12 percent of his budget on advertising during the initial push (compared to his current 5 percent), and it worked. “We were drawing from a much broader area than I expected and we hit our projected sales targets,” he says. Shearer slowly started to taper off on advertising to focus on the forms that brought the best returns. To help him determine how people had heard about Paine’s, he instituted a simple customer survey that sits on the store’s front counter to this day. “When customers fill out the survey, we put their names in a monthly drawing for a free beach chair,” Shearer says. It is working just as Shearer had hoped. He uses the feedback from the survey to help him determine the best way to spend his advertising dollars.
 |
| Douglas and Kristin Shearer opened Paine’s Patio in 2003. Douglas is part of the sixth generation of the Shearer family, who (along with the Paine family) started the Boston-based
Paine’s Furniture store in 1835. The patio shop has flourished as a result of Douglas and Kristin’s business and marketing savvy. |
Year-round Appeal
Most people fall in love when they walk into Paine’s for the first time. The 12,500-square-foot outdoor-furniture showroom, which includes two outdoor decks, is reminiscent of the charming patio that can be found next to many Cape Cod beach houses. The teak, wicker and aluminum furniture vignettes are fully merchandised with all the extras, including place settings, umbrellas and nautical accessories.
Shearer takes pains to select only midrange to upper-end furniture that will withstand the salt-air environment, require little maintenance and appeal to his customers’ design preferences. Bold colors, stripes and florals dominate Paine’s showroom floor, and the most popular color by far is blue (in any shade). “Our customers prefer the bright, resort-oriented look,” Shearer says. Most of the furniture frames are white or wooden. He explains that color plays a strong role in what he buys, as well as his choices in new vendors. The first thing he looks at is fabric swatches; he moves on if the vendor does not offer bright colors. “The appeal or look of my showroom is one of my best marketing tools, so I have to get it right,” he says.
One of the biggest challenges for outdoor-living stores, especially those in colder climates, is staying profitable during the winter months. Shearer has successfully met this challenge by dedicating 2,000 square feet of his showroom to nautically themed indoor furniture. He has created a niche that is a lucrative supplement to his business. Shearer describes the furniture as “over-the-top nautical,” with fabrics featuring sailboats, code flags and lobsters. “There are furniture stores on every corner that sell traditional indoor furniture; ours is different,” he explains. “It is specialized furniture that boutiques carry, but we have a much greater selection.”
Shearer’s father, Dan, runs a unique gift shop in the lower level of Paine’s Patio called Nautical & Nice that is the perfect companion to the indoor furniture. The shop is a sea lover’s dream, stocked from floor to ceiling with every nautical gift imaginable, including ship models, clocks, lamps and wall accessories. Dan shops at gift shows across the country and in over 150 catalogs in search of the most unusual gifts. “My dad has built quite a customer following,” Shearer says. People stop in every week to see what is new. Shearer estimates that at least 10 customers a day stop by specifically to shop in Nautical & Nice. Many of them end up coming back later to purchase something that they saw in one of the furniture showrooms.
The Best Plan
Shearer’s advice for putting together a successful marketing plan is simple: have one. “I’m surprised at how many retailers make marketing decisions without doing research and finding out what will work best for their stores,” Shearer says. He adds that the plan must be extremely adaptable. “Many things are beyond your control, so you need a plan that can be adjusted.”
In addition to advertising and merchandising, another element integral to Shearer’s marketing plan is a professionally designed Web site (managed by Kristin) that contains links to manufacturers’ sites. “Customers pull up our site to look at items before they stop in, as well as going back to the site to show their family members what they saw in the store,” Shearer says. He is also a strong supporter of local charities. Any charity that approaches him will receive some type of product. He typically donates beach chairs with the Paine’s logo. “It’s great exposure, and it goes to a good cause,” he adds.
Shearer stresses that, no matter what you include in your plan, outstanding customer and product service must be at the core; everything else should stem from them. “Good advertising may get customers to your store, but if you don’t have a smiling face to greet them and a knowledgable staff to give them good service, they won’t come back,” Shearer says. “We pride ourselves on having both, and I know that this will sustain our business for many years to come.”
PHPR March/April 2007
|
|
