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Thinking Outside The Container


2008-04-07

Thinking outside the container
By Susan Dickenson -- Home Accents Today, 4/1/2008
To know Moe's Home Collection is to know its president and CEO Moe Samieian: a relaxed blend of modernity, elegance and savoir faire, spiced with a few surprises and a good dose of color. The same description might also apply to the Moetini, a concoction that has become such a popular showroom staple, a full-time Moetini-server is hired to shake and stir at each market, though the recipe is a tightly-guarded company secret.

The Moetini bar is just one of the fixtures that contribute to Moe's “relax, welcome home” philosophy, a lifestyle Samieian not only markets but enjoys himself. “It's about creating a friendly atmosphere for people to come home to at the end of the day — where they can relax and feel comfortable putting their feet up on the coffee table,” he said.

It's a philosophy that has worked for him ever since 1985 when he got his start in the rug business. “My rugs were different than anybody else's. Persian rugs have such intricate designs, so I said look, people are tired when they come home after a day of work. These rugs will make their heads spin. Give them something to calm and relax them — simpler designs. And that was successful for me.”

Samieian's start in the rug business followed unsuccessful attempts to find work in the recession-era early '80s. “I graduated with a degree in electrical engineering in 1981, sent out hundreds of resumes and got a lot of thank yous,” he said. “I thought, well I've got easy access to rugs and a pretty fair business mind so let's do that.” Six years later, he began to add home accents and furniture.

He also added a couple of family members. Samieian's children, Sara and Moe Jr., have become very familiar faces in the showrooms, where they've helped out for years. After graduating with degrees in accounting and finance from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, both expressed an interest in joining their dad's business. Now, says Samieian, they're the driving force of his company, an international operation that has expanded beyond its Vancouver headquarters to include showrooms in Atlanta, High Point, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Dallas and Chicago, a warehouse and office facilities in Richmond, Calif., a 250,000-sq.-ft. factory in China, two 30,000-sq.-ft. stores in Vancouver, and a store in Seattle with a second scheduled to open there this spring.

Several years ago, driven by concerns expressed by some of his smaller retail clients, Samieian made some strategic changes that have proven very successful for the company. “They (the retailers) saw the muscle and purchasing power of the bigger stores and said 'Moe, we've been in business 25 years. What can we do to keep them from pushing us out?'

“So I thought, what can we do to help keep them profitable and in business? I told my children, 'I'm shifting half of the business in the direction of China so these small independent retailers can buy at the same price as the big boxes.'” That led to the company's mixed container program for independent retailers. “Today, a 1,500-sq.-ft. store can come in here and choose a container, fill it up with Moe's products and, if it's in stock, receive it in four to six weeks.” The company also offers a custom container build feature on its Web site where customers select one of three container sizes, then browse and select from the product pages to fill the container. A container cart visual lets the customer know how much space is left.

Glenda Ray, who joined the company in September 2007 as Moe's chief operating officer, calls Samieian a visionary, a people person and an out-of-the-box thinker. “Moe can foresee a trend, but he also brings his vision, passion and strength to all of his employees,” Ray said. “He'll walk into the Richmond office and people just can't wait to say hi to him. Many of them have been with him since the beginning. They love Moe because he takes care of his people.”

He also takes care of himself. Samieian maintains residences in Seattle and China, but Vancouver is home. In Vancouver, he sponsors and plays on a soccer team in a league that he's been affiliated with for more than 25 years. He also likes to relax, put his feet up and spend time with his wife, Faye, in a setting that exemplifies the “simplicity and elegance that is Moe's.”


MOE SAMIEIAN
Born/grew up in: Iran

What did you want to be when you were growing up: I thought of being everything except this. I never thought I'd be who I am today.

Earned first paycheck: doing odd jobs during summer breaks

What are you reading: Pour Your Heart into It, the story of Starbuck's CEO

Three words that best describe you: passionate, sensitive, honest

I wish I knew: everything my children know today, back when I was their age

Secret Indulgence: Moetinis






Profit Maker








Moe's Retail Stores


2008-08-15

Moe’s Home Collection stores opening in California, Washington
By Susan Dickenson
Two NEW Moe’s Homeme Collection stores are set to open: one in Fremont, Calif., and another in Federal Way, Wash., a Seattle suburb.
The 20,000-sq.-ft. Fremont store is located just north of San Jose and marks Moe’s first retail venture in California. The Federal Way store, the company’s second retail location in Washington, will bring the company’s total number of stores to five.
The stores, according to owner Moe Samieian, have the same look and feel as the Moe’s Home Collection
showrooms in High Point, Atlanta and Las Vegas, but carry a wider range of product including inventory from other vendors. “We’re expanding our accessory lines tremendously so we’ve reached out to other wholesalers for categories we don’t carry … like The Phillips Collection, Three Hands, Surya and a couple of overseas suppliers that mix well with our product,” Samieian said.
The company also just joined the Costco Home roster of brands in Kirkland, Wash. “We placed Moe’s product in the store a month ago and now they’ve asked us to stay on for a while,” Samieian said.
Retailing is nothing new to Samieian, who opened his first store, a rug store, in 1985 in Vancouver, British
Columbia. Eventually he added furniture to the mix, and began buying from wholesalers in High Point and at international shows.
In about 1999, he decided to bring some of his furniture acquisitions into the U.S. market, which led to the Moe’s Home Collection wholesale operation. Three and a half years ago he opened a second store in Vancouver at approximately 40,000 square feet, and followed it a year later with a 30,000-sq.-ft. store in downtown Seattle.
Moe’s retail division, like the wholesale side, is overseen by the Samieian family members, including Moe’s wife, Faye, daughter, Sara, and son, Moe Jr. “We’re involved in all aspects from manufacturing to consolidation to wholesale to retail,” said Sara, who admitted to “pretty much” working a 24/7 schedule. “It’s because I love the product, and I believe in the product.”
Samieian said the company’s retail experience gives him and his staff a better understanding of their retail customers. “We’ve been there. We know what it takes, what you should do, what you should mix, what can get you growing, so on and so forth. Our mixed container programs help smaller retailers who are more restricted in their buying. And our products can mix and blend in with existing product to fill the whole store.”
Heather Hanley, a retail buyer interviewed in Moe’s Las Vegas showroom this past market, attested to the success of the program. “I have two stores — one is contemporary and one traditional. The traditional
store is almost five years old and the contemporary
store just opened. We’ve purchased three or four containers from Moe’s, worked it into the traditional store, and based on that response we started the other store.”
So what happens when Moe’s sets up shop near its retail customers? “We do not undersell our clients’ prices,” Samieian said. “In Vancouver we have many clients that know we have the store and they still buy from us. They know we maintain our prices and that our margin is the same as theirs.”
“And The Tin Roof (Hanley’s store), for example, is in Washington, close to our store,” Sara Samieian added. “They sell the same products and do very well with it.”
Samieian said Moe’s retail stores will continue to grow and that Moe Jr. is thinking of opening 15 more locations in the next few years — but only if “the look” can be maintained. “Our product requires a certain presentation — the concrete floor, the broken brick walls, the music, the backdrop for the look of Moe’s and what makes it so distinct and different.
“Our Seattle store is my vision of an outstanding retail store — exposed posts and beams, skylights, concrete floor, and I brought a few old planes from China and hung them from the ceiling,” Samieian said. “Everybody who comes to that store says it’s so beautiful. I wish every Moe’s store could be like that.”