At the beginning of the pandemic, the next year for Lee Industries, a North Carolina-based furniture manufacturer, looked quite difficult. In April 2020, orders received dropped by 70% from the previous year, and then dropped by 40% in May. However, just as it was already in trouble, the business surged in June and has not stopped since.

"There is no way to see things rebound like before," Lee Industries President Russell Towner told Dennis Scully in the latest issue of The Business of Home Podcast. "Suddenly—things we know now and seem to be self-evident—people stay at home, look around, don’t go out to eat, don’t travel, and they fall in love with home again."

Prosperity is a good thing, but it also brings many challenges. Although Lee's orders have tripled, delivery time has also increased rapidly. Some of them are for obvious reasons. On the one hand, with COVID prevention measures, it is even more difficult to work quickly. Then, as the infection among personnel suddenly appeared, production stagnation caused bottlenecks. "If you encounter a certain situation, such as in your quick start department, someone is infected with COVID, and the people around you are also out, suddenly, your frame rate is significantly reduced." Resurrection," Tang Na said. "You let your interior decorator sit there and work, but if there is nothing to decorate..."

However, the most urgent reason for the delay has nothing to do with COVID at all. As Tangner explained, the furniture industry relies on two key chemicals—toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and polyols. Both are essential for foam production (used in sofas and furniture, but also in cars and bedding), and are almost exclusively produced in Louisiana and Texas, destroyed by hurricanes and extreme winter storms in recent months Petrochemical refinery.

In this episode, Tonner talked about the double-edged sword of the recent prosperity of the home furnishing industry during the pandemic and shared his insights on the industry from the perspective of a senior industry insider.

This episode is sponsored by Serena & Lily and Artistic Tile. Below, check out some key points and listen to this episode. If you like what you hear, please subscribe to Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Supporting skilled labor Lee started with a recommended bonus plan and adopted a multi-pronged approach to solve the industry's shortage of skilled labor. "We love our colleagues, and if they have friends, family or other acquaintances, we also want them to join," Towner said. In the long run, they focus on the training line to keep people up to date, while also taking measures to increase the productivity of existing technical work-Lee has recently had time to tackle this process.

Committed to POV Inspired by the RH phenomenon, Towner focuses on enhancing brand experience and perspectives. For Lee, this strategy means sticking to a distribution philosophy rooted in local partnerships. "We hope that the distributors, boutiques, and showrooms we do business with can be deeply rooted in the local community," he said. "You can't treat everyone equally. You have to choose your lane."

E-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores In the past year, as more and more companies turn to the Internet, Lee is now revamping its website-not to change its model to online sales, but to attract a lot of time before buying Consumers researching there. Towner insists that as the pandemic subsides, the in-store experience will rebound: “How many incredible dinners have you been out for, great company...and this bottle of wine , The unique one you have ever tasted, you take it home, and you find it is not good at home? It is part of the whole environment," he said. "People are still eager to connect with people in these spaces, especially with their designers, who can ensure that the experience at home is the same as the experience in the store."

Homepage photo: Russell Towner | Courtesy of Lee Industries