Vice President of Franchise Development
Slumberland Furniture
Slumberland Furniture is a ~$400M privately held, family-owned home furnishings retailer with a rich history of nearly 60 years of major growth and success. The company has made its mark across the Midwest region as a premium retailer offering mid tier, value-priced, but high quality, home furnishings, selling directly to customers via 120 stores - 70 franchise stores and 50 corporately owned stores - across 12 states throughout the Midwest. Started in 1967 by Ken Larson Senior in Edina, Minnesota, the company immediately found its footing and grew significantly under his leadership, starting strictly as a mattress store, and later, expanding into other product categories including recliners (largest La-Z-Boy customer in the country), bedroom furnishings, kitchen furnishings, sofas, and more. Ken Senior began franchising in 1975, a relatively new model in this era that sparked major expansion for the up-and-coming retailer. In 2008, Kenny Larson Junior succeeded his father as CEO and has led through several major market challenges including the Great Recession and the 2020 global pandemic. Through these trying moments, Kenny focused less on major expansion, and more on investing in infrastructure like refreshing stores, modernizing technology systems, leveling up a performance marketing function, evolving the brand, and reinventing supply chain. Today, with 680 loyal and passionate full time employees and 1,000+ franchise employees, and after a strong 2024, the company is shifting back to growth and expansion having developed an inspiring 5-year strategic plan with a $600M+ revenue target. Central to this growth effort is Franchise Development, as the company seeks a strong senior "player-coach" Development executive who will report directly into Michael Larson, Chief Development & Operations Officer (and owner) and lay the ground work for significant franchisee growth across 150 pre-assessed midwest markets, and many more longer-term, by engaging in FD execution while also building the broader function from the ground up.
A Foundation you can build on
Getting a sense of the foundation that has been built prior to your arrival offers a lens through which you can see where your career may go.
Slumberland
Slumberland is a home furnishing retailer based in Oakdale, Minnesota, with an incredibly rich ~60 year history. They got their start in 1967 under the ownership and leadership of Kenny Larson Sr., selling strictly mattresses and have since expanded to become well known for offering a variety of bedroom, casual dining, upholstery and leather furniture. In 2000, Slumberland surpassed the $250 Million in sales milestone. As an organization, they prioritize their value-pricing strategy along with customer experience which has led to a strong foothold in the market. Alongside their relentless focus on their customers, they also distinguish themselves from competitors by leaning into their values and capitalizing on their franchise model.
History
Slumberland was founded in MN in 1967 by Ken Larson Sr. when he was just 25 years old. The first store was opened in Edina, MN, as a "sleep store" specializing in mattress sales - one of the first of it's kind in the country. From there, the first product expansion was into La-Z-Boy recliners, a natural fit, and today they are one of the nation's top La-Z-Boy sellers. In 1975, Slumberland began franchising which was a key component of the earlier-stage growth strategy. Given the rapid expansion and success of Slumberland stores, they have not only broadened their reach to 120 stores across 12 states, but have also expanded their product line to selling an array of whole-house furniture and accessories. Slumberland remains family-owned, led by Ken's sons, Kenny (CEO) and Michael (COO/CDO). Slumberland's executives take deep pride in how they live out their values of citizenship and stewardship through the generous donation of 10% of profits, largely to families and children in need through the non-profit they founded in 1991 called 40 Winks Foundation.
Home Furnishing Retail
Slumberland is a stand-out in the overarching home furnishing retail space given their commitment to providing quality, stylish furniture that is "easy to love, easy to maintain, and easy on the pocketbook". They are devoted to spectacular customer experiences and in a challenging and competitive industry that was extremely challenged by the Covid-19 pandemic, Slumberland continues to thrive, outperform competitors, and maintains a strong balance sheet.
Scale
Slumberland has grown to 120 stores -- 70 Franchise owned by ~42 franchisees, and 50 Corporate -- across 12 states in the Midwest with 2 distribution centers. The company employs 680 loyal and passionate people, and has an additional 1,000+ franchise employees across its regional network. In 2000, they reached a significant milestone exceeding $250 Million in sales, and today, are generating nearly $400M in total sales with a strong store-front presence, but also, a growing eCommerce platform. It's an exciting time at Slumberland as the company embarks on a 5-year strategic growth plan focused on continued store expansion, B2B opportunities (healthcare, hospitality, etc.), modernization of its brand and digital presence, and driving system growth and modernization. But the most critical component of their growth hinges on Franchise Development. With aggressive growth targets over the next 5-10 years, Slumberland expects to build and evolve its Franchise Development capabilities in a way that allows them to open ~20 new franchise-owned stores per year, and its ownership believes it has the opportunity to become a $1B network.
Slumberland
Give, Give, Give
Slumberland owner and CEO, Kenny Larson, is an extremely charitable and philanthropic person, and has lived a life of "giving" to the less fortunate. Slumberland makes major donations to the 40 Winks Foundation, which provides free mattresses to children who otherwise would sleep on the floor, and engages in many other philanthropic opportunities throughout each year, serving not strictly stakeholders, but the community at large.
Long-Term Thinking
Slumberland's executive team is aggressive, but also disciplined, in considering long-term opportunities for growth, sustainability, and success versus strictly looking for "quick-hits". The focus on long-range planning has kept the company alive and healthy for almost 60 years, and has also impacted employee longevity with an average employee tenure of 8.6 years, an extraordinary statistic in the retail sector.
Customer-Experience Oriented
Customer experience sits at the crux of everything Slumberland does. On a mission to improve the lives of its customers through the betterment of sleep, Slumberland associates take their role seriously understanding they are dealing with their customers' most sacred and personal spaces. This has led to an incredibly strong Net Promoter Score of 85.
