French Firm Taps Architecture Niche

Home for one of the state’s largest architectural firms fades into Bentonville’s A Street scenery behind a wall of red brick and glassy blandness. It’s an ease that must please the low-key principals of Harrison French & Associates Ltd.

Fact is, the folks most responsible for the firm’s coast-to-coast success seem downright unsure about sharing the limelight.

“Our firm is just a reflection of our personalities,” said Harrison French, CEO and majority owner of the enterprise he founded 20 years ago. “Most of our clients are conservative in nature. That’s reflective of Northwest Arkansas. Our work speaks for itself as far as our clients are concerned.”

Today Harrison French employs 120 while averaging 500 projects per year. The firm’s long list of accomplishments extends to 49 states and includes thousands of major and minor Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club remodels, hundreds of Sam’s Club gas stations, the Bentonville Plaza, eateries at the University of Arkansas, an ever-rising amount of 7-Eleven stores across the country, and so forth.
And with a stable of happy clients and 15 percent growth expected this year, it comes as no surprise that turnover isn’t much of an issue at Harrison French. But then why would it be at a firm succeeding in the midst of a major economic downturn? In fact, French admits, the recession “has not greatly affected business.” (Click here for a sample portfolio.)

Wal-Mart, Remodeling

French, along with Larry Lott, president and chief operating officer and Chris Horton, vice president of engineering and chief financial officer, believe their fruitful experiences with Wal-Mart help deliver hard-won credibility to their firm.

For Wal-Mart, Lott explains, the customer always comes first. That’s why “they want to remodel the store to keep it basically in vogue and keep it highly efficient and productive for the customer. This evolution they go through in redesign is to keep themselves fresh with the market.”

Of course, it is possible that someday Wal-Mart will run out of room to open stores. Not that the firm’s 2010 commitments to Wal-Mart are shabby by any means. Ranging from very small to very large it could add up to about 300 projects.

In any case, the wish of so many companies to remain in lockstep with popular trends, and therefore remain in perpetual need of yet another makeover, is a definite plus for business.

French describes remodeling as utilitarian in nature. “It’s just a matter of remodeling an existing store or putting on a small addition. And I don’t mind saying it: that’s not what most architects go to school for. You don’t necessarily go to school to remodel a store. But it’s a big industry, and once you get out in the business world you look for all opportunities.”

Clients don’t ask the Northwest Arkansas company to take chances. And why would they? The likes of Wal-Mart and 7-Eleven come to the table with an established design theme. Besides, Harrison French is not a design firm – not that they don’t have those capabilities, the principals are quick to point out. Harrison French is a production firm.

“We’ve chosen the production route because we know there’s a need for it,” said Horton. “We know there’s a future in it. I don’t think any of us are in it for the flash.”  

“A lot of times when you talk about architecture people are thinking about skyscrapers and auditoriums and arenas and all that stuff, and that gets all the publicity, but that’s probably less than 1 percent of the market,” French  said.
   Lott believes annual growth is one reason the firm has seen fewer turnovers than others. Employees, he said, have the ability to form strong relationships with clients. Horton points to the family atmosphere and solid benefits package. French leans toward the challenge (successful thus far) of nurturing programs.

Naturally, the firm is always on the lookout for new talent. “The type of people we look for are those who find their own challenges,” Horton said. “Any work is challenging if you choose to make it challenging. People who are self-motivated are the type of people that we’re looking for.”

Still, employees seek opportunities, and even French admits that maintaining the type of expansion that allows managers to grow is a challenge.  

Additionally, Wal-Mart continued adding architecture firms over the years. That market share, said Lott, “has limitations on how much it can grow. Limitations with more firms can only be split up so much.”

Leave it to 7-Eleven to come to the rescue. Harrison French did 90 projects for the convenience chain last year. In 2010 the firm is looking at being involved with 250 such projects.

In time, Horton said the HF relationship with 7-Eleven “has the potential to rival what we do with Wal-Mart.” In fact, 7-Eleven has already become the firm’s second biggest client, trailing only the Bentonville giant. 

“We have the opportunity to grow with 7-Eleven and grow tremendously fast,” Lott said. 

Quality is Key

French, who attended Bentonville High School and graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1983, began his firm in 1990 in a two-room shop behind City Hall, just off the Bentonville Square. After that, French shifted to what he describes as a shell of a building that used to be a barn only a short distance from his prestigious outfit’s present locale.

Then, in the early 1990s, business with Wal-Mart came along, and his firm “had an opportunity to do a couple small remodels” French said. “Since then we’ve just kind of grown with Wal-Mart.”

Twenty years later, with two co-owners (Lott and Horton) and five associates making up the firm’s leadership team, French can point at one of the country’s worst economic recessions and say it hasn’t been all bad. For one, he believes it has benefited the firm in some ways, because the job market enabled it to find good talent while others firms were laying off quality hands or simply not hiring.

French adds that because of the fast-paced, production-type” work model, even “smart, brilliant” professionals are capable of breaking down. That’s part of why the firm is selective about its hires. Workers here must have a natural feel for what they do or the ability to adapt quickly.

“We put a big emphasis on this company as a business. Our up-and-coming managers, we tell them ‘you have to understand this is a business. You can’t just be a good architect or engineer,'” Harrison said. “Our first priority is to do quality work. But we’re confident that we can continue to do quality work and maintain efficiency and productivity and growth will take care of itself.”

It was about five years ago when Lott said the firm came to a turning point. “We had to decide what we are really good at. Anyone will say if you really want to be successful you have to pick what your niche is. What are you really good at? We identified we’re very good at commercial retail architecture. That’s our specialty.”

Of retaining the relationships that built Harrison French, Lott said the company’s business model means thinking long-term.

“We’re not looking for one of-a-kind projects,” he said. “We look to build relationships that we can build teams around.”

“We may be locally based,” he adds, “but we’re a national firm. We’ve proven our philosophy works with any corporation.”
   Ultimately, French said it’s a relief to be located in Northwest Arkansas, where one can focus on good quality work and everything else takes care of itself.

“We’re smart enough to know what works and the resources you have, the environment you’re in and understanding how our clients work,” French said. “For the most part the three of us have been able to figure it out.”