Family firm Wolf Furniture, founded more than a century ago, strives to make its employees feel like a part of the team and treats them with respect to ensure there is minimal turnover. “We’ve got some very talented people who could go anywhere to earn a terrific living, but they stay and enjoy success here,” President Doug Wolf says.

Premier Business Partners:

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When a company lasts more than 100 years in an industry as challenging as furniture retailing, it must be doing something right. Wolf Furniture President Doug Wolf credits his family company’s longevity largely to the values instilled by his father, Chairman and CEO John Wolf.

“When you’re a company our age, you develop a company culture,” Doug Wolf says. “I give my father an enormous amount of credit because he is unwavering in what he believes is important to be a successful person and businessman, which is steeped in all of us, especially our executive staff and management.”

Wolf says his father’s philosophy has always been to make sure his employees felt like a part of the team. To maintain that atmosphere, John Wolf treats employees with respect to ensure there is minimal turnover. “He even sends a birthday card to every employee. I would say he is very much responsible for that company culture,” Doug Wolf says. “We’ve got some very talented people who could go anywhere to earn a terrific living, but they stay and enjoy success here.”

With good, loyal employees as a foundation, the Wolf company culture extends to the way customers are treated. Exceptional customer service is always a priority at Wolf Furniture, Wolf says.

Customers today want the best of everything, he says. They want a good selection, low prices, quick turnaround, plus personal customer service. “Our customer enjoys working with someone [he or she] knows and trusts,” Wolf says. “Long-time employees are more knowledgeable about products and services, and are able to build relationships with customers. Our employees make us successful.”

Wolf Furniture was founded in 1902 by Doug’s great-grandfather, Charles Wolf, and his partner, John Fox, as City Furniture Co. in Altoona, Pa. In 1915, Charles Wolf bought out Fox and renamed the company Wolf Furniture Co.

Today, Wolf Furniture boasts nine retail showrooms in Pennsylvania and Maryland, plus a clearance outlet. Most locations are within a two-and-a-half-hour drive of its headquarters in Bellwood, Pa. The company carries bedroom, living room, dining room, entertainment, home office, bedding, flooring products and home accents from brands such as Broyhill, Sealy, Kincaid, La-Z-Boy and Kingsdown. Most merchandise is displayed in professionally decorated, room-like settings so customers can easily envision what the new furniture could look like in their homes.

The Wolf Distinction
Wolf Furniture showroom sizes vary, with the average around 60,000 square feet.  Unlike the “cookie cutter chain” retailers, Wolf’s strives to offer more selection and broader lines. “With special orders, which we welcome, our customer’s possibilities are far wider,” Wolf says.

 Wolf showrooms are stocked not only with best-selling items, but many unique, fun and fashionable options, as well. Developing and keeping long-term supplier relationships helps Wolf maintain its supply line, which is critical in retail success. What keeps customers coming back is they way they are treated.

“We are fanatically customer-satisfaction driven,” Wolf says. “There are thousands of things that disappoint customers, but we stay in the game to make sure we make things right. It boils down to ... giving customers what they want and creating an overall positive shopping experience.”

Dealing with Globalization
Wolf Furniture would like to have primarily North American-made products, but the globalization of the furniture manufacturing industry has made that scenario difficult to consistently implement, according to Wolf. “It is pretty much impossible to be doing business on a larger scale without [globalization],” Wolf says. “But for our volume level, we’re probably less of a container player than most.

“Up until a year-and-a-half or two years ago, there was a cognizant effort to continue sourcing in North America, which had to do with lead times, product sourcing and inventory quantities required.” 

To ensure it receives quality products from overseas – made in a place with some conscience about wood harvesting practices and environmental standards – Wolf Furniture makes sure it asks probing questions about the facilities where the products are manufactured. Although there is not much information available in this regard, the company does opt for products made with a social conscience.

The key is to turn globalization from a negative to a positive in the eyes of the customer, Wolf says. “We broaden our buying horizons to offer more selection and the best value to customers,” he says.

Going Green
Wolf Furniture has launched a few initiatives to become a more environmentally friendly company. The company is cutting back on energy usage, minimizing waste and recycling packing material whenever feasible. Wolf’s will opt for an environmentally friendly product if two products have similar features.

One of Wolf’s initiatives was to cut back on its locations’ hours of operation. The company now closes its stores an hour earlier and opens an hour later Monday through Saturday. Sunday hours have not changed. Wolf Furniture has also altered idle time and top speed on all its trucks, added carbon dioxide detectors that monitor the functionality of HVAC systems in some stores, begun recycling and transitioned from incandescent to compact fluorescent lighting in all lamps.

Aside from the obvious benefits for the environment, Wolf says going green puts companies in the good graces of environmentally conscious consumers. “The nice thing about being environmentally conscious is you’re more popular with the consumer, it makes people feel good and, if done right, we save the company money,” Wolf says, adding that recycling will be key as retail continues to evolve.

“If we stay focused on satisfying the consumer and creating a place where employees enjoy working, we will be successful,” he says. “All other facets can change, but that will not change.”