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They don't want to get in- volved in special or- dering and this kind of stuff. But most of our sales are special order." With the success of their dinettes business, Abode has now expanded into laminate bed- Abode specializes in areas the chains ign ore. rooms and tables, and leather — two rooms" and designer windows de- signed for and by celebrities as other niche items. Eisen's wife, diverse as author Joyce Carol Sherry, buys accessories for the store. Oates and Aretha Franklin. Eisen has had the store for 15 Although Moray opened Gor- man's Gallery in 1966, his first years. Until two months ago, it store was in Detroit, on Livernois occupied two stores in the strip just past the John C. Lodge Ex- center at 12 Mile and Farming- pressway. Moray left Robinson ton roads. Abode now has one Furniture, where he was vice larger, 9,000-square-foot space in president and merchandising the same strip. Abode's location, near Crow- manager, in 1965 and bought the store and the name from Ben ley's, brings it a lot of traffic. Gorman. The store burned down "We're not a destination store," said Eisen. "Most furniture stores in the 1967 riots. Moray's wife, Muriel, buys ac- are free-standing destination cessories, lamps and pictures for stores; you go there for furniture, the chain. The Morays used to and that's it. You usually don't own the Marie Newman Shop, find furniture stores in strip cen- first on Livernois, and later on ters because the rent is too ex- Maple and Telegraph roads, but pensive, or you have to have a sold it in 1980. Muriel Moray, of- real big store." Abode employs 10 people, and ten accompanied by her hus- band, attends both High Point is not "pressure-oriented," said markets, as well as the other ma- Eisen. His salespeople do not jor furniture markets in New work on commission. He is selling dinettes that are York, Atlanta, Chicago and the West Coast, and the major craft priced only $200 more than they shows in Philadelphia and were in the 1960s and 1970s — while the price of a car has in- Boston. "Every store has to have a cul- creased during those years by as ture; every store has to have a much as $20,000. "In the furni- purpose," said Moray. "We have ture business across the board, the factories did not upgrade our own." prices and quality as time passed. They took the quality out of goods, and kept prices as low as s a mom-and-pop retail, we have to do everything," they could on most everyday fur- said Bob Eisen of Abode niture," said Eisen. "Because of all the markups Furniture in Farmington Hills. 'We are a niche store, with and discounts, there should be 50 80 percent of our business being more furniture stores, and there better-end dinettes. We cater to aren't. There are less. It is only a customer looking for quality the hangers-on, the niche stores. and knowledge. In most stores, We're a dying breed, the small the last thing a salesman wants guy. "The big guy doesn't buy bet- to sell is a dinette, because it takes a lot of effort to understand. ter; his prices are probably high- You have to put a top with the er than mine. Fqctories don't give base with the chairs; you can mix him volume discounts. Those things don't exist. But he has and match. "At a big store, if you're look- more visibility, and more mon- ing at a bedroom set, it could be ey to advertise, and it brings cus- $2,000, or $1,500. Dinettes can tomers out. It is a matter of be $400, or $3,000, but most are name-brand visibility. You're go- in the $500 to $900 range. But ing to buy Crest [toothpaste] be- you still have to put it together fore you buy a house brand. And for a person — you need some you've got to search out someone knowledge. It is a lot of work for like me," said Eisen. 'Word of mouth makes the a $500 sale," said Eisen. "If a customer walked into mom-and-pop [furniture] stores Sherwood Studios, he probably stick it out. We take care of cus- tomers, the price is right, the would find only three dinette sets. They don't want to sell them. If quality is good, whatever our you walk into an Art Van, they'll niche is. White furniture is still have 15 to 20 dinette sets, but around. I'm still around." A ❑