This colorful youth-friendly room setting shows off Stanley’s Tranquility line. The Lego playtable helps keep kids occupied while mom and dad shop.While Compass Furniture carried youth furniture, no store in town devoted itself exclusively to the arena. With the right location now spotted and years of experience in the industry, Rippner set out to open the new Compass for Kids store.
That was six years ago. Since then, he said, “We’ve been lucky. Business has been up about 10% a year. Over the years, people are beginning to realize we’re here.”
While the original Compass Furniture, in business for 25 years, includes a merchandise mix of about 5% kids furniture, it’s really at Compass for Kids that the customer gets the full effect. Rippner said the main store stocks the bestsellers, but at Compass for Kids, customers can see 26 vignettes of children’s furniture.
“We’ve created a specialty store where the salespeople only sell youth furniture,” said Rippner, something he feels is an important distinction. “It really is a specialty market — there are questions that you can’t have the answers to unless you do this full time. You just can’t have all that knowledge.”
That knowledge is the result of a well-trained and seasoned staff, something Rippner knows is important. Compass for Kids employs nine staff members, most of whom have been with the company since the day the store opened, said Rippner.
The Authentic Shaker collection from Vaughan -Bassett looks sharp against a bright orange wall and contrasting fun-colored bedding by Southern Textiles. Denim chair by P.J. Kids.But it’s not just longevity that matters in staff members, it’s also a willingness to adapt. “The business has been evolving since they’ve gotten into it, and they’ve kept up with it,” he said.
Since he entered the market, the youth furniture business has exploded, and Compass for Kids has had to keep up with that — both in terms of competition and in terms of trends in the marketplace.
“We always change with new product,” he said. “Now the big push is to have storage, and twin-over-full bunk beds are popular.” Rippner said lately many of the lines he carries have sold more twin-over-full bunks than twin-over-twin, a big change from when Compass for Kids first opened.
He’s also noticed that designs are becoming more diverse. “Everything has to be versatile,” he said. “It has to change with the kids.
“We go with the flow,” said Rippner. “When a new concept comes out, we follow it. What we shy away from is the trendy things — hand-painted furniture, baseball beds, things like that.” Rippner said that he thinks while those pieces often grab parents’ (and kids’) attention, what most parents are really interested in buying is something much more practical, and Compass for Kids is there to fill that need. “We’ve filled the store with what a customer wants — not what they want to look at, but what they want in their homes. Lots of other youth stores try to capture that whimsical look,” he said.
Not only will you not find any hand-painted furniture at Compass for Kids, you won’t find any cribs or bassinets, either. Compass for Kids is strictly youth furniture, something Rippner feels strongly about. “We’re really there for when they’re out of the crib,” he said. “We can’t be all things to all people.”
Just selling kids furniture is complicated enough. “I don’t know anyone as a buyer who knows what to floor in a kids room because every kids room is different,” said Rippner.
His answer is to set the store up in very different vignettes with all the furniture manufacturers Compass for Kids sells represented. “We put a good sampling of every collection, but we don’t show every piece,” said Rippner. “Instead, at the foot of the bed, we have a catalog.”
The Maison Lenoir set from Broyhill creates a room just for little girls, with shades of pink reflected in bedding by Southern Textiles and accessories by Smilze. A child-size table and chair set from KidKraft complete the look.The store is painted in bright colors with cheerful faux walls that include clouds and books. There is also a mattress area, where Compass prominently shows mostly Serta and Fraenkel mattresses. “I didn’t want it to seem like an afterthought,” said Rippner. After all, parents buying children’s beds also need children’s mattresses.
Compass for Kids hasn’t forgotten about the kids who often accompany their parents on these shopping trips, either: Rippner has 18 little televisions showing kid-friendly distractions like the Disney Channel placed strategically around the store. The store is also full of toys and games for the children to play with, and Rippner said he strives to create what he calls “a festive atmosphere.”
“If you have a child that’s not happy, it will encourage the parents to leave,” he explained. “It’s a friendly, easy place for kids. You know you’ve achieved what you want to achieve when every child leaves kicking and screaming.”
Today, he said, he’s proud that his relatively small store has created the name recognition and gained the trust of the customer.
The name recognition may be due in part to a conceptual ad campaign Compass for Kids has on television, “to get the name out.” It’s the only promotional work the store does, said Rippner – no special sales or newspaper advertisements. But perhaps even more important is word of mouth and repeat customers, of which Rippner said Compass for Kids sees a lot.
“Oh, we love big families,” he said. “If you treat them well with the first child, you hope they come back.”
