"Shopping must become an experience again!"
Interview with Werner Gazdek, Managing Director of Möbel-Schau-Norsingen GmbH & Co, Möbelvertriebs-KG
Werner Gazdek, Managing Director of Möbel-Schau-Norsingen GmbH & Co, Möbelvertriebs-KG, has set the goal to prepare his company for the next 50 years and knows exactly how he wants to achieve it: "Creating a modern environment is one aspect, but even more important is the shopping experience," he knows. Therefore, he focuses not only on high-quality furniture and accessories but also on an environment with a feel-good character and excellent service, where planning and consulting are key.
Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Gazdek, the Furniture Show can look back on 50 years of company history. To start, could you tell us about the major milestones within it?
Werner Gazdek: Certainly. The Furniture Show was founded in 1975 and started as a smaller, medium-sized business in the specialized retail sector. Over the past decades, the Furniture Show has experienced significant growth and now has two locations, employing a total of 170 staff members. We closed our site in Emmendingen at the end of 2024, as we want to completely realign the company and prepare it for the next 50 years.
Wirtschaftsforum: How exactly would you like to approach this and what are your goals?
Werner Gazdek: At the heart of this realignment will be comprehensive modernization, in every respect: on one hand, it will involve technical modernizations, on the other hand, it is about creating a completely new, modern environment at the remaining locations Norsingen and Offenburg. The demands of customers have changed significantly in recent years, just as fashion changes. This is also the case in the furniture industry, and we need and want to respond to this by creating an environment where the customer feels comfortable. This also includes paying more attention to online marketing and significantly investing there.
Wirtschaftsforum: How would you describe your service spectrum and your product portfolio?
Werner Gazdek: We are, if you will, a grown specialized trade. We offer a wide range that covers almost all product groups in our area. Our main product groups are primarily furniture in the areas of kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, and dining. In these areas, we have a very broad and deep assortment because our focus is on furniture that requires high-level planning, but we also cater to niche categories like bedding, dishes, and lighting. Here, we have thousands of items available immediately. However, our focus is on planning, where we offer our customers the complete package. For instance, if you need a new kitchen, it will first be planned according to your individual preferences and conditions in your home. When it arrives after about six weeks, we also take care of the installation and setup for you.
Wirtschaftsforum: What role do topics such as digitalization and artificial intelligence play for your company?
Werner Gazdek: Artificial intelligence also offers us new opportunities that we will gradually explore. Primarily, we will first modernize our classic website. We also want the customer to feel comfortable there, and we want to create opportunities for them to approach us directly with questions and get immediate answers. We must also be ready online, via platforms like Teams or Zoom, to advise customers without them having to drive to us if they do not wish to. Measurements, of course, take place on site at the customer's location. Social media are also important.
Wirtschaftsforum: What, in your opinion, will be significant for your company in the future?
Werner Gazdek: A crucial point is certainly that we need to make shopping an experience again. A furniture store, for example, should not just offer furniture, but a variety of different goods areas. This is the fundamental challenge of brick-and-mortar commerce. Staying with the kitchen example: If you are viewing a kitchen, it might be exciting to see how it feels to cook in a high-quality kitchen with good equipment, observing a live demonstration which also provides great ideas and recipes for fantastic dishes that one can try on the spot and take home. It's about the experience of feeling, seeing, and possibly tasting on-site, and about feeling comfortable while doing so. The viewing, trying, and buying are transformed into an experiential event that resonates by integrating peripheral products. It's crucial to remember that the customer spends their leisure time in our store, valuable time they want to spend in an enjoyable manner.
Wirtschaftsforum: What is personally important to you in your profession?
Werner Gazdek: If the employees are happy, so are the customers. In fact, I think that the classic organizational chart should be revised: The manager should not be at the top, but at the base. The customer is at the very top.