Riley’s Furniture & Mattress — normally "Closed Sundays to be with Family" — will also be closed Monday, October 15th, when the entire employee roster will be flown down to North Carolina to experience High Point Market firsthand.
Representing sales, office, and warehouse, a collection of 30 employees will board a private jet early Monday morning and fly down for a special one-day tour of High Point Market, a first for the majority of the group. Riley Griffiths, owner of the 30,000-square-foot store based in Monroe, OH, has envisioned this trip for years. He has been working closely with High Point Market Authority over the past few months to create this unique once-in-a-lifetime experience for his entire team. By exposing them to the full expanse of High Point Market and the furniture industry overall, he hopes to provide fresh perspective and inspiration for his employees, and in doing so, to improve the experience for his retail customers back home.
“We want to provide our customers with the best shopping experience possible,” says Griffiths. “To do that, we don’t want them working with salespeople, we want them working with industry experts. We don’t want them interacting with office staff or delivery teams, we want them dealing with passionate, knowledgeable professionals. By investing in all the members of our team, we believe we can improve every part of the customer experience, above and beyond their time spent in our showroom. That’s what this historic trip is all about.”
As a family-owned and -operated store, Riley’s is always looking for ways to invest in its local community as well, and this market trip is no exception. Partnering with Salvation Army & Innkeeper Ministries, Riley’s Furniture has petitioned their vendor partners to sponsor the trip, and in so doing, to donate the majority of the proceeds directly to these charitable organizations. Thousands of dollars have already been submitted, allowing this local business to help support the worthy causes that they believe are so important.
“It’s a win-win for everyone involved,” says Griffiths. “If we can use this trip as a means of supporting our community, then we have a responsibility to do exactly that. It’s the right thing to do.”
