When S & W Television & Appliance Co. opened in 1946, big-box retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart hadn’t been dreamed up yet. But by the time Mark Exter took over the family business in 1992 from his father, Sydney, they were an ever-growing part of the landscape.
Yet thanks to buying co-ops, low retail prices and personal service, S & W has not only survived the onslaught, it has thrived.
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“The business has grown consistently since the early 1990s,” said David Exter, Mark’s son and S & W’s controller.
S & W now has a 5,000-square-foot store that is featured every Sunday on “TV Maitre d’ with Joe Zito,” as well as three warehouses in East Providence.
David Exter said the store’s success can be traced directly to when it joined the buying group Intercounty Appliance Corp. in 1992. Long Island-based Intercounty has 85 members and belongs to the 500-member New Jersey-based NECO Alliance. NECO, in turn, belongs to the North Carolina-based Nationwide Marketing Group, which has 2,800 members.
Now the Exters get almost all of their stock, excluding high-end brands such as Décor and Viking that still use distributors, through the buying group, at the same prices the big-box chains pay.
Before that, they had to buy exclusively from distributors who bought from manufacturers. In order to get a good deal, S & W would have to buy a large amount, often more than it wanted.
“Back before the buying group, an owner would have to buy a trailer of each,” Mark Exter said.
“Now, with buying groups, we can buy one washing machine at the discount price and have it in a couple of days without tying up a bunch of warehouse space,” added David Exter. “The buying group will buy the large quantities.”
But that isn’t the only benefit.
“The buying groups can also react quicker to deals,” Mark Exter said. “They can react almost immediately. But with the box stores, by the time it gets through the managers, we may have already had the item on the floor for 30 to 60 days.”
And because of their lower overhead, they are also able to offer free delivery, free removal of old items, and competitive deals on financing, they said.
“A lot of people perceive that they’re paying more at independent stores. But they aren’t,” Mark Exter said. “They might see a dryer advertised for $199, but by the time it is delivered, they are paying $279. Instead, we could have gotten them a better item.”
“Overall the prices are lower, and we carry all of the major brands,” David Exter added. S & W can also offer better service, they said.
“It’s a very quick turnaround here,” David Exter said. “Often it’s same-day delivery or next-day delivery. At the box stores, they don’t send the truck out on a special trip.”
Mark Exter said he also thinks a large part of the store’s appeal is that people get personal service and are treated well.
“Often you’re talking to an owner,” he said.
“We don’t even have voice mail,” David Exter added. “When you call, you’re going to get someone on the phone.”
And the salespeople customers deal with, even if it isn’t Mark or David Exter, are experienced. They have employees who have been there 25 years.
David Exter said that all of that goes into making the business a success.
“It’s the hard work, the attention to detail, earning the customers’ trust and not just selling an item and walking away that has helped us, because [even though] we do advertise, most of our business is from word of mouth,” he said.
Mark Exter added that return customers are also a big asset.
“It’s comfortable coming in because they’ve dealt with us before,” he said.
“We have people that come here that have been coming for 20 or 30 years and used to deal with my grandfather,” David Exter said.
But they don’t just have relationships with individuals. Many contractors buy from them exclusively, and those transactions account for one third of the store’s business.
Still, David Exter said, given the big-box stores’ ability to advertise extensively, S & W still faces the challenge of “removing the misconception that the box stores are less expensive.”
This would seem to be a growing concern as the stores multiply, but Mark said the more box stores that are built near them, the better it is for his business.
“We like them closer,” he said. “That way the customers can go and compare prices and see that their prices aren’t lower.”
