Attendees of the recently concluded High Point PreMarket who entered Furniture First’s showroom were greeted by a big smile in the form of a pair of lips to sit on. The lip-shaped settee was part of a vignette to promote a new turn-key charitable initiative called “Kissing Cancer Goodbye.”
The set-up is modeled on the successful campaign of member Talsma Furniture, benefitting the American Cancer Society (ACS) in October 2023. It centered around the theme of "Kissing Cancer Goodbye" encouraging customers to visit one of their locations to sign a heart and take a selfie blowing a kiss on a lip-shaped settee. Talsma donated $20 to the ACS for each signed heart.
Customers who tagged Talsma in their Instagram posts and used #KissCancerGoodbye were entered to win a $500 Talsma gift card. The sofas were later auctioned off as an additional ACS fundraiser. The store’s owners were motivated to honor the memory of a family member who lost their battle with cancer.
Talsma's success is the blueprint for the turn-key program that all Furniture First members can implement. Members will have the freedom to build an alliance with a cancer-related charity in their community. Furniture First developed several resources, including POP graphics, paint colors and logos, for members to run their own campaigns.
Many have chosen to localize their charitable alliances with various cancer-related causes. Furniture First is coordinating the acquisition of lip-shaped settees for 13 member stores and is supporting campaigns with a website, www.KissingCancerGoodbye.com. Several members will be running their events in October, but a few have opted for the first and third quarters of 2025.
“This new initiative uses our collective resources to help individual retailers partner with a community-focused good cause,” said Lark Shirley-Stevens, Executive Director of Marketing & Membership at Furniture First. “Our cooperative is about sharing great ideas with one another. We are sharing Talsma’s great idea and making it easy for our members to replicate.”
The display in the High Point showroom creates a festive atmosphere while supporting a serious cause. A backdrop calling out the hashtag for the campaign is surrounded by balloons and lip/kiss themed décor and candy, all of which is intended to be an Instagram backdrop for customers visiting the store.
For retailers interested in joining Furniture First who visit the showroom during market, Furniture First has pledged to make a donation to a designated cancer charity if they complete a return on investment analysis.
“Our Board of Directors was motivated to develop a community-oriented charitable initiative that could be implemented by any member, wherever they are,” Kauffman said. “Many of our members already work with local charities and we want to help them enhance those relationships. We’re not mandating who they fund or what variety of cancer charity they work with, but we are sharing tools to build a great campaign.”
In 2023 Furniture First opened a four-story building at 336 South Main St. in High Point, Furniture First on Main. The first two floors of the building are occupied by Furniture First with TD Retail Card Services and Knorr Marketing on the third floor, and Vaughan Bassett on the fourth floor.
While the Furniture First showroom is closed to non-members, all retailers are invited to visit the Industry Service Center on the first floor where several marketing and service partners have tables to meet with potential clients.
Furniture First, a national cooperative buying group for independent retailers, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The group serves full-line independent retailers with sales of more than $2 million. Collectively, the group sells $3 billion at retail.
