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Speaker 1: It's Adam West another edition of CEOs. You should know.

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Speaker 1: I'm here with Kenny Larson from Slumberland Furniture. Thank you

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Speaker 1: so much for being here.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, happy to do it.

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Speaker 1: So tell us a little bit about Slumberland.

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Speaker 2: Family business started in nineteen sixty seven. As the name suggests,

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Speaker 2: it was just a mattress specialty store, and over the

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Speaker 2: years has transitioned to full line furniture. And we've been

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Speaker 2: grown ever since.

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Speaker 1: We got a table there from the Burnsville location. I

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Speaker 1: remember my wife wanted to go to Slumberland. I'm like,

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Speaker 1: we're not buying betting, why are we going there? But yeah,

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Speaker 1: you guys have everything we do.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's been fun to be able to see

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Speaker 2: the changes within Slumberland overtime, but certainly retail has been

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Speaker 2: impacted too.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. So I'm on my way here and I passed

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Speaker 1: right by the strip four ninety four and Penn, you

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Speaker 1: guys have that brand new store there you drive by

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Speaker 1: in the evening. That's amazing. Tell me about that store.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we're referring to it as kind of our next

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Speaker 2: generation store. We've got a couple of them, but this

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Speaker 2: was the first bigger one in the Twin cities, and

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Speaker 2: we couldn't be happier with it. To your point, the

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Speaker 2: way the visibility from the freeway is awesome, but once

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Speaker 2: you get inside, it's really really good.

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Speaker 1: So what makes it different?

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Speaker 2: So there's a lot of design elements that are different, flooring, lighting,

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Speaker 2: the way that we are setting up displays, and the

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Speaker 2: size of it. So we spend a lot of time

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Speaker 2: during COVID trying to answer the question if people are

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Speaker 2: going to not buy online and actually come into the store,

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Speaker 2: how do we pay that off better? And that was

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Speaker 2: really the genesis and this was the latest iteration of it.

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Speaker 1: While you were saying that, I was thinking to myself,

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Speaker 1: everybody checks stuff out online now, but there is something

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Speaker 1: about still being there that I think is better.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think we've been spent a lot of

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Speaker 2: time trying to think through it from the customer standpoint.

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Speaker 2: And there's no question that people are buying things online

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Speaker 2: for sure, but there are some products Mattress's sofa is

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Speaker 2: that a lot of people do want to sit in

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Speaker 2: on them, and part of our challenge is to figure

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Speaker 2: out where is that person in the shopping journey, And

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Speaker 2: sometimes people come into the store first just to research

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Speaker 2: and they end up buying online. For some people, they've

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Speaker 2: done a lot of research before and they come into

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Speaker 2: the store and they're ready to buy. So it's really

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Speaker 2: important for us to ask really good questions and come

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Speaker 2: alongside the customer so we can we can we can

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Speaker 2: be an advocate the best boy possible.

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Speaker 1: Are you guys able to see that? Can you track that?

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Speaker 2: We can?

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Speaker 1: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, there's there's certainly a lot. That's one of the

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Speaker 2: things within digital today is you do have the kind

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Speaker 2: of good line of sight of what's happening.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well you don't get that same new furniture, not

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Speaker 1: like the doesn't smell like the dogs or anything like that. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's great. So what is it? What else does it

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Speaker 1: take to create that great in person that breack and

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Speaker 1: mortar experience.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So, as I said, the store has changed a

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Speaker 2: lot and we put a lot of those design elements,

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Speaker 2: but I would tell you it still comes down to

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Speaker 2: the people experience, and that's one of the things we

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Speaker 2: really lean into. We do a lot of post purchase research,

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Speaker 2: asking questions about how did you feel about it, and

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Speaker 2: what was what was good?

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Speaker 1: What was our.

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Speaker 2: Opportunities to get better? And it is overwhelmingly when we

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Speaker 2: get the feedback back, it's really around how the salesperson

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Speaker 2: worked with me, how the delivery experience went, how it

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Speaker 2: was on the phone. So it's still I think the

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Speaker 2: people experience part of it really still drives all of that,

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Speaker 2: even in a very digital age.

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Speaker 1: Well, I think knowledge is really key to you. Like

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Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys have like Slumberland University

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Speaker 1: or something.

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Speaker 2: But that's what we call it. You do call it,

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Speaker 2: no way we do Slumberland University, Okay.

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Speaker 1: So but that to me is like really key too

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Speaker 1: because you can look online and stuff and what am

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Speaker 1: I looking at? How long is this going to last? Whatever?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, there's all sorts of questions that come from it.

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Speaker 2: So within that Slumberland University, there would be a lot

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Speaker 2: around you know, the specific suppliers down to the specific

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Speaker 2: product to you know, how do we really ask the

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Speaker 2: best types of questions so we can really get the

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Speaker 2: each person on the path that they want to go on.

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Speaker 1: And you guys are based here, right we are? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: which I didn't know for a long time because you

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Speaker 1: got I see you what I'm traveling sometimes? How many

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Speaker 1: states are you in?

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Speaker 2: We're in twelve States one hundred and rough one hundred

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Speaker 2: and twenty stores.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you kind of operate the same way everywhere.

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Speaker 2: Well, we are a little bit unique. We do have

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Speaker 2: both corporate stores and franchise stores. So typically the large

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Speaker 2: markets like Minneapolis, Saint Louis des Moines would be corporate

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Speaker 2: stores and some of the smaller markets would be franchised.

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Speaker 2: But it's really a great model for us to extend

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Speaker 2: the Slumberland brand.

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Speaker 1: And what makes you guys different from other places where

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Speaker 1: you can get furniture.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the roots of our mattress business was

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Speaker 2: really important for us, so we really do lean into

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Speaker 2: the best brands. So I could certainly go down the

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Speaker 2: list with mattresses that we've got, Temper pedixtern Sealy, Purple Nectar,

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Speaker 2: you know, some of the new brands.

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Speaker 1: New brands. Yeah, but on the.

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Speaker 2: Furniture side, Ashley, Lazy Boy, Flex Steel, all the way through,

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Speaker 2: and then we'll find other products to help complement those.

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Speaker 2: So we know that furniture is a big purchase and

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Speaker 2: there's some concerns with it, and we think brands help

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Speaker 2: with that. And as we take a look at our

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Speaker 2: partnerships with those you know interesting with Lazy Boy, for example.

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Speaker 2: We are their largest customer in the country. Oh so,

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Speaker 2: not just in Minnesota, not just in the twelve states,

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Speaker 2: but we have really gone deep with them, and they've

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Speaker 2: been a partner with us since the mid seventies. So

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Speaker 2: it's one of the things that I think as we

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Speaker 2: really try to position ourselves with the customer, but also

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Speaker 2: within the industry.

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Speaker 1: You mentioned family business, and I didn't know this before

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Speaker 1: we walked in here. You're in the family now I

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Speaker 1: have the CEO of Slumberland. But I feel like, with

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Speaker 1: what you just said a couple of minutes ago or

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Speaker 1: a few seconds ago, like you could just drop into

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Speaker 1: the store right now and maybe se could you help

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Speaker 1: a customer right now? Do you know that much about

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Speaker 1: what's going on?

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Speaker 2: I think I could help them on the product side,

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Speaker 2: I would tell you, I don't think I could check

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Speaker 2: them out through the sales order.

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Speaker 1: Well, oh yeah, yeah, that's a little different deal.

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Speaker 2: No, but yeah, and from time to time I'll have

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Speaker 2: conversations with the customer and just you know, tell me

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Speaker 2: what you're thinking about and looking at and so. But

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Speaker 2: we've got great salespeople and they would do a better

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Speaker 2: job than I would.

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Speaker 1: So how do you what is the culture an employee

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Speaker 1: experience like for people who've been there, well, I mean

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Speaker 1: for any amount of time, but especially people. Why do

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Speaker 1: people stay? Yeah, it's interesting.

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Speaker 2: We've had so many people that have made their careers

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Speaker 2: at Slumberland, and we've had someone that actually had a

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Speaker 2: fifty year anniversary with us. We've had a lot of

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Speaker 2: people with forties and I think there's several reasons why

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Speaker 2: people choose to make a career and stay within a company.

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Speaker 2: One is we spend a lot of time talking about

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Speaker 2: our mission and values, and we think that that having

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Speaker 2: people understand why we're in business, what are the things

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Speaker 2: that are going to guide our decisions, and then painting

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Speaker 2: a picture of where we're going in the future. I

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Speaker 2: think any good company needs to have some of those

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Speaker 2: in place. But one of the things that we prioritize

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Speaker 2: to is try to listen, so we have regular feedback

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Speaker 2: that we're asking for our salespeople. Is this place you'd

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Speaker 2: recommend your family or friends to work at? Where do

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Speaker 2: we where? How can we get better? And that happens

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Speaker 2: every month and then in a really major way once

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Speaker 2: a year.

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Speaker 1: And why is it a great place to work?

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Speaker 2: I would tell you first and foremost with our values.

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Speaker 2: We have an overarching belief that every person should be

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Speaker 2: treated with love, dignity, and respect. So that's certainly our employees,

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Speaker 2: our customers, our suppliers. So we take that, we take

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Speaker 2: that seriously, and I wish I could tell you we're

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Speaker 2: perfect at it, but it's one of those things that

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Speaker 2: when we have when we have a miss in that,

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Speaker 2: we hold ourselves accountable and try to correct that. So

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Speaker 2: I do think the employee experience that we have really

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Speaker 2: tried to be intentional about. I think people recognize them.

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Speaker 2: I think they know pretty quickly if this is where

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Speaker 2: I want to be. But saying that, you know, we've

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Speaker 2: got a lot of long term people. We've had some

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Speaker 2: people that have come in have worked with us for

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Speaker 2: two three years and have gone on to do really

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Speaker 2: amazing stuff too. So my hope is when they're there

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Speaker 2: they can give their full full efforts and that it's

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Speaker 2: a rewarding place.

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Speaker 1: Well, it's got to be kind of hard when it's

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Speaker 1: a it's a family business and you don't want to

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Speaker 1: take things too personally right, or maybe you do. Maybe

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Speaker 1: that's the whole key is that's you know, it's kind

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Speaker 1: of our name. We have been around this since nineteen

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Speaker 1: sixty seven.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think over the years we've had

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Speaker 2: just again some amazing people that have worked with us

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Speaker 2: for a long times and short times. I guess I

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Speaker 2: would say during that during those during those times, we've

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Speaker 2: made great connections. And that's my hope is people when

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Speaker 2: they go on to do other things, that we're able

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Speaker 2: to stay in contact. And that's okay, I'm cheering them on.

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Speaker 1: You guys are part of these communities everywhere, and what

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Speaker 1: does it mean to be part of that community.

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Speaker 2: So it's just a real high level for our mission.

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Speaker 2: It's two things. We want to improve the lives of

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Speaker 2: our customers and strengthen our communities. So those are the

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Speaker 2: two things that I think are the big picture of

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Speaker 2: what we're trying to what we're trying to do. I

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Speaker 2: think every company should be striving to be positive within

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Speaker 2: the community in whatever way they can. So for Slumberland,

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Speaker 2: one of the ways that we've really settled in on

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Speaker 2: as we've started a foundation called forty Winks that's giving

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Speaker 2: mattresses to kids sleeping on the floor. It's one of

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Speaker 2: those that it's certainly a natural tie into our business

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Speaker 2: and I think that's when when companies can create those

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Speaker 2: connections within the community that's related to their business, I

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Speaker 2: think it's just even more authentic. And I don't want

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Speaker 2: to minimize you know, giving dollars because we do that too,

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Speaker 2: is important, but I would tell you that's another reason

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Speaker 2: why people have stayed within Slumberland is seeing the impact

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Speaker 2: of that. So today we've given over sixty five thousand

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Speaker 2: mattresses to kids.

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Speaker 1: Wow. And it's on a stadium. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And one of the things that's really cool is to

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Speaker 2: think about over the years the impact that that's had

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Speaker 2: in different families lives and without that, I'm sure it

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Speaker 2: would be different. I don't know if you can imagine

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Speaker 2: sleeping on the floor each night and then coming to school,

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Speaker 2: coming to work, how difficult that would be. So it's

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Speaker 2: one of those things that we just each year we

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Speaker 2: are trying to do more. But it's also an objective

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Speaker 2: we have in every single location, whether it's corporate or franchise,

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Speaker 2: there is going to be some mattresses given because we

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Speaker 2: want to make a difference.

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Speaker 1: And what made you get started with the mattresses?

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Speaker 2: So this goes back to my dad in the early

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Speaker 2: nineties and I think he started hearing a little bit

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Speaker 2: about just the problem with it in some of them,

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Speaker 2: how many families were faced with that where they didn't

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Speaker 2: have a mattress, and just you know, like a lot

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Speaker 2: of things, you start small and then it starts building

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Speaker 2: over time. So I'm thrilled that he kind of came

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Speaker 2: to that conclusion because it's one of the things that

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Speaker 2: unifies the Slumberland team to say, this is why we're

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Speaker 2: working hard so we can do even more. Well.

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Speaker 1: It's interesting too, I think it's kind of a pride thing.

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Speaker 1: I remember in my twenties I was still sleeping over

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Speaker 1: at buddy's houses once in a while, and then at

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Speaker 1: some point you're like, I can't, I can't really do

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Speaker 1: this anymore, right, So I think that you're right. That

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Speaker 1: makes a big difference in the lines of people.

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Speaker 2: We work with a ton of really great organizations, so

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Speaker 2: we don't have the ability to get those mattresses directly

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Speaker 2: to the people. So here in the Twin Cities, you know,

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Speaker 2: organizations like Bridging, Harriet Tubman Arrive. All of those are awesome,

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Speaker 2: so they do the hard work of finding them and

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Speaker 2: helping us distribute them. But we're just so grateful for

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Speaker 2: their work to be able to kind of come alongside

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Speaker 2: and help it in this way.

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Speaker 1: Talking to Kenny Larson, CEO of Slumberland, what are some

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Speaker 1: of the challenges you guys have had in the last

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Speaker 1: few years. I don't really ask people about COVID as

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Speaker 1: much anymore. Maybe that's still an issue, but tariffs have

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Speaker 1: been a big thing lately. You're always thinking about the

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Speaker 1: next possible recession. I hate saying that because it depresses people,

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Speaker 1: but you know, how have you felt about certain current events.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the last number of years there. It sort

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Speaker 2: of has been from one headwind to the next. You know,

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Speaker 2: it won't spend a lot of time with COVID, but

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Speaker 2: during that time, there was a tremendous explosion in home

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Speaker 2: furnishing sales because people were sheltered in and bought a

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Speaker 2: lot of product. I think what's interesting because it was

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Speaker 2: so difficult to get those products. I don't think people

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Speaker 2: bought everything that they wanted. Five years later, I think

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Speaker 2: that's now starting to needed to get changed out. But

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Speaker 2: I would tell you for the home furnishings industry, since

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, it's been four years of a recession.

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Speaker 2: So even though it hasn't been i'll say a recession

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Speaker 2: for the whole country. There are sectors that have been challenged,

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Speaker 2: and home furnishings is one of them.

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Speaker 1: Do people buy things in advance the head a schedule or.

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Speaker 2: I think there was some of that. I think there

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Speaker 2: was some that they're like, if I'm going to be

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Speaker 2: working from home, I needed to look like this. If

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Speaker 2: I'm going to be spending more time not going out

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Speaker 2: but staying in, I want a new sectional to watch

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Speaker 2: the game or movies or whatever whatever that is. So

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Speaker 2: as we've kind of progressed from twenty at the height

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Speaker 2: of twenty one twenty two onward, we've had to stay nimble.

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Speaker 2: And that's one of the things that continue to talk

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Speaker 2: to the teams about is let's control the things that

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Speaker 2: we can control and the things that are coming at

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Speaker 2: us in ways that we maybe not want, but let's

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Speaker 2: keep working on that. And you know, happy to report

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Speaker 2: the last couple of years we've been able to have

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Speaker 2: a positive increase even though the industry has gone negative

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Speaker 2: and tariffs.

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Speaker 1: Has that been an issue for you guys at all?

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Speaker 1: Are you've been thinking about it or.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's I would tell you it really impacted

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Speaker 2: the supply chain, and we import product from probably eight

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Speaker 2: to ten countries in a meaningful way, and I would

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Speaker 2: say with tariffs, it impacts everybody. So we're not there's

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Speaker 2: not a competitive disadvantage it.

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Speaker 1: Even stuff that's built here, I would imagine there's still some.

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Speaker 2: Of the components would have had had some tariff impact

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Speaker 2: to that. So you know, as we're navigating that, it's

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Speaker 2: if you're going to make a change from bringing something

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Speaker 2: in from say Vietnam, and because of a net tariff impact,

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Speaker 2: want to move to Malaysia, for example, It's not like

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Speaker 2: flipping a light switch. It takes time to do that.

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Speaker 2: So having a little stability just around what the tariff's

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Speaker 2: amounts are or the countries would is probably the biggest thing.

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Speaker 1: What does the rest of twenty twenty six look like

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Speaker 1: for Slumberland.

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Speaker 2: We've got pretty aggressive growth plans over the next couple

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Speaker 2: of years. So one of the things that is really

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Speaker 2: going to be fun to do is we are going

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Speaker 2: back to our roots and we're going to actually open

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Speaker 2: a mattress specialty store, which we have not had for

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Speaker 2: a long time. So Springfield, Missouri is going to be

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Speaker 2: our first one, and we think this is an opportunity

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Speaker 2: in some markets instead of adding a whole news store

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Speaker 2: that we can probably move a little faster with these.

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Speaker 2: So we're going to learn a lot with that with

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Speaker 2: that first one coming up the end of March.

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Speaker 1: And what's I guess what's special? I mean you feel

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Speaker 1: like you have the ability to specialize. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we think the name certainly suggests it. But you know,

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Speaker 2: one of the things that is challenging for any retailer is,

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Speaker 2: you know, finding locations, being able to put them up.

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Speaker 2: And I would just tell you there is some ease

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Speaker 2: to be able to put up a five thousand square

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Speaker 2: foot store more than a forty five thousand square foot store. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: So we don't see it as either or we think

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Speaker 2: it can be complementary. So we're gonna learn a lot

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Speaker 2: with this first one.

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Speaker 1: Let me ask you a little bit about AI, and

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Speaker 1: I never I don't ask a lot of people about

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Speaker 1: this because I don't really understand what kind of the

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Speaker 1: next thing is. But will AI affect Slumberland.

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Speaker 2: I think it's gonna affect everybody. I don't think there's

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Speaker 2: a company that is not going to have be impacted

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Speaker 2: either on within their business to figure out how to

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Speaker 2: be more efficient, be more productive, or the impact of

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Speaker 2: the customer using AI and thinking about the choices that

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Speaker 2: they need to make. So I think one of the

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Speaker 2: things that AI does is it puts just tremendous power

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Speaker 2: in the hands of everybody. So as they're taking a

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Speaker 2: look at where's the best place to buy two price

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Speaker 2: comparisons to being able to look at images in ways

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Speaker 2: that just weren't even possible before because the you know,

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Speaker 2: just the data and the computing power wasn't there. So

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Speaker 2: we're trying to look at it both from what's the

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Speaker 2: impact going to be with the customers using it, and

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Speaker 2: then certainly within the company Slumberland, how do we become

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Speaker 2: more more productive and make our work easier. So we've

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Speaker 2: got several kind of initial kind of thoughts around that

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Speaker 2: of what we're going to be doing internally and have

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Speaker 2: utilized some of it. But there's no question that it's

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Speaker 2: going to change change the landscape. And it's interesting when

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Speaker 2: you hear companies when you're thinking about other companies, you

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Speaker 2: think they're so far ahead, and then you start asking

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Speaker 2: them and everybody at the beginning of this, and I

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Speaker 2: think the important part is to start asking maybe the

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Speaker 2: questions what problems are we trying to solve and how

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Speaker 2: can AI help, rather than think about just this massive

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Speaker 2: deployment to say how do I have AI run my business?

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Speaker 2: Because I think it's trying to take too much at

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Speaker 2: the beginning can be problematic.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I think it's hard to comprehend on the

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Speaker 1: productivity side. I totally that's easy. But I feel like

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Speaker 1: we have it pretty good. Like if I look at

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Speaker 1: slumberland dot com right now, I'm getting all the information

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Speaker 1: I want. But I guess we're gonna have different expectations,

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Speaker 1: is what you're saying. You know, because we can go

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Speaker 1: watch product videos, we can do all that stuff. Now,

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Speaker 1: how does it get better from here? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: I think there's going to be things to say, how

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Speaker 2: is this product going to look in my room? And

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Speaker 2: today there are some apps that help with that, but

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Speaker 2: I think there's just going to be more and more

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Speaker 2: that AIS and the machine learning is going to be

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Speaker 2: able to figure out to help people do things that

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Speaker 2: they couldn't even imagine before.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So I'm not sure where it's all going other than

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Speaker 2: I know every company needs to at least be asking

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Speaker 2: the questions of how do I start participating.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it was hard to imagine learning how

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Speaker 1: to do something around my house? How do I do

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Speaker 1: with this home repair? Now you can just go somewhere

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Speaker 1: and you can find a million videos on it, and right,

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Speaker 1: that was hard to comprehend even twenty years ago, and.

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Speaker 2: A lot of those videos. Part of what's happening now

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Speaker 2: is those videos are going to be created by AI.

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Speaker 2: It's not going to be actually be someone shooting and

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Speaker 2: doing it that They're just going to be created and

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Speaker 2: that technology is already there today.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Wow, who is slumber Lands customer?

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Speaker 2: We're a little bit unique in the mattress category in

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Speaker 2: that we go from very starting price product all the

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Speaker 2: way up to the highest end. So we do believe

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Speaker 2: that within the mattress category we can we can look

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Speaker 2: to almost everybody to be slumber Lands customer. Now, saying

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Speaker 2: that and actually doing it is different, but we really

401
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Speaker 2: believe we've got the breadth of product on the furniture

402
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Speaker 2: side a lot more narrow. We have always done well

403
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Speaker 2: with families. So when we take a look at our

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00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:09,480
Speaker 2: customer base and kind of break them down in different segments,

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Speaker 2: our top ten are always going to be some configuration

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Speaker 2: of families. So I think part of it for Slumberland,

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Speaker 2: there's a comfort with our brand, the types of products

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Speaker 2: that we have, and I think that's just a it's

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Speaker 2: just pretty natural to be able to connect with connect

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Speaker 2: with families.

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Speaker 1: Why is the mattress industry a little bit different? Why

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Speaker 1: is that expanding or it's almost like it's becoming more

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Speaker 1: personal or more custom.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they continue to work on different technologies, so you know,

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Speaker 2: the materials that they're using. You know, I would say

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Speaker 2: it's pretty amazing that thirty years ago you could get

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Speaker 2: a mattress for five ninety nine and today you can

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Speaker 2: still get a mattress.

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Speaker 1: For five ninety nine, and that five ninety nine.

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Speaker 2: Is actually better quality today. Really, So there's no question

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Speaker 2: that the price points have go on up when we

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00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,239
Speaker 2: get into you know, temper pedic and you know, the

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00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:09,080
Speaker 2: opportunity with the power bases to be able to not

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Speaker 2: only sleep better, but to be able to you know,

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Speaker 2: watch TV and bed read in bed have the opportunity

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Speaker 2: to go up. You know, there's some of those that

427
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Speaker 2: are going to be several thousand dollars. So the breadth

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Speaker 2: of is has never been broader, but I would say

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Speaker 2: the quality has never been better.

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Speaker 1: What is it about the quality? What's what's better?

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Speaker 2: I think the materials they've got the ability in manufacturing

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Speaker 2: to use more robotics, so there's still a hand element

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Speaker 2: to that too, but the the way that they're able

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Speaker 2: to produce these there's just it continues to get better

435
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Speaker 2: and better.

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Speaker 1: That makes sense. And you guys are still around. You're

437
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Speaker 1: telling me a little bit about consolidation. You guys are

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Speaker 1: still around after all of this because you I mean,

439
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Speaker 1: you know what you're doing.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we're you know, we're coming up on soon sixty years,

441
00:20:55,520 --> 00:21:00,119
Speaker 2: which is which is pretty pretty amazing. I think that

442
00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:07,400
Speaker 2: through this transformation, both with digital and where the consumers

443
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,560
Speaker 2: at today, there will be fewer and fewer retailers and

444
00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,439
Speaker 2: fewer and fewer manufacturers. Last year we had four of

445
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:14,919
Speaker 2: our suppliers go out of business.

446
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:15,400
Speaker 1: Oh wow.

447
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:19,240
Speaker 2: And this year there were several really large retailers that

448
00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:25,119
Speaker 2: either filed for bankruptcy with a restructure or just completely done.

449
00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:29,560
Speaker 2: And I think it's, you know, as it's moving, every

450
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:31,960
Speaker 2: company needs to figure out not only how to stay relevant,

451
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,280
Speaker 2: but to make the investments where they need to. And

452
00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:36,679
Speaker 2: you take a look at advertising, for example, it was

453
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,119
Speaker 2: it was much easier, say, thirty years ago than it

454
00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:42,480
Speaker 2: is today. And if you don't have the skill set

455
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:44,640
Speaker 2: with people and partners to be able to do that,

456
00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:50,480
Speaker 2: it's really difficult. And there is a part for me

457
00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:52,960
Speaker 2: that I think the scale is important to be able

458
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,320
Speaker 2: to have the resources to keep investing in the business

459
00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:56,479
Speaker 2: to drive it forward.

460
00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:00,000
Speaker 1: Well, that table I mentioned at the beginning, we still

461
00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:02,119
Speaker 1: have that table and chairs. Love it's a little bit

462
00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:04,680
Speaker 1: repurposed now. Yeah, and now I got a daughter going

463
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:06,520
Speaker 1: to college, so who knows, maybe she'll end up with it.

464
00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,040
Speaker 1: But always think of you guys anytime when we sit

465
00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:09,919
Speaker 1: down at that table.

466
00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:13,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I would tell you it's a tremendous privilege

467
00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:17,800
Speaker 2: for us to be really invited into people's homes to

468
00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,120
Speaker 2: make a delivery. And one of the things that we

469
00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,720
Speaker 2: like to remind all of our sales associates and actually

470
00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:28,879
Speaker 2: all of our associates, is that table isn't just a

471
00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:32,320
Speaker 2: top and four legs. It's where people come around for

472
00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:36,119
Speaker 2: the most important conversations. Homework is getting done, bills are

473
00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:37,840
Speaker 2: getting paid. That may not be a fun one, but

474
00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,000
Speaker 2: you know, it's like it plays a role within the

475
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:44,639
Speaker 2: home that is just really cool and you know, the

476
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,240
Speaker 2: sectional isn't just how does it fit into the room.

477
00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:49,760
Speaker 2: And look, I think this is where the big games

478
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:53,199
Speaker 2: are watched, this is where movie night is. And I

479
00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,440
Speaker 2: think when we think about the products that way, it's

480
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:59,399
Speaker 2: so much easier to connect with our customers of what

481
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:01,840
Speaker 2: they're trying to do and then to be able to

482
00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:03,200
Speaker 2: find the right solutions for them.

483
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:05,800
Speaker 1: That's so cool. And I was trying to formulate how

484
00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:08,000
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say this, but I was thinking about all

485
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:12,760
Speaker 1: those conversations, so you know, such big moments in our lives.

486
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,879
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that again, that we have the opportunity to

487
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,199
Speaker 2: have products that fit into people's homes and lives that

488
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:23,080
Speaker 2: way is just I think, really cool.

489
00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,399
Speaker 1: You have one hundred and twenty locations right twelve states.

490
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:27,400
Speaker 1: How many in Minnesota?

491
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:29,440
Speaker 2: Oh, now, give a question.

492
00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:29,879
Speaker 1: I don't know.

493
00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:35,080
Speaker 2: It's probably in the thirty range. Okay, so we've got

494
00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,399
Speaker 2: about fourteen to fifteen in the Twin cities, depending on

495
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:39,680
Speaker 2: how big you call the Twin Cities it it keeps

496
00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:43,919
Speaker 2: expanding a little bit, so it's it's probably in that

497
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:45,880
Speaker 2: twenty five thirty range.

498
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:47,280
Speaker 1: From Field Soda. Yeah, I feel like I see you

499
00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:49,560
Speaker 1: guys everywhere. If I go, you know, up north or something,

500
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:51,280
Speaker 1: my Slumberland's still there.

501
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:53,880
Speaker 2: So yeah, that's one of the things that I think

502
00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:57,840
Speaker 2: we've been able to do through our growth strategy is

503
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:01,240
Speaker 2: hit both large markets, medium marks in small markets. So

504
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:03,760
Speaker 2: there is a Slumberland in a lot of places.

505
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,119
Speaker 1: That's awesome. Kenny Lars and Slumberland CEO, thank you so

506
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:07,760
Speaker 1: much for being here.

507
00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:09,320
Speaker 2: Hey, it was great being with you. To Adam, thanks