New downtown Rogers retail store uses crowdsourcing for inventory

Crowdsourcing is not new to retail. Some of the biggest companies on the planet are using it to keep tabs on store shelves, final mile delivery and other needs. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have used crowds to help with marketing and product development since 2013. Amazon and Walmart use crowdsourcing to attract tech innovation.

A lesser known application for crowdsourcing in retail is “marketplace application,” in which the outside world helps the retailer choose what they sell. While this is not yet mainstream, it’s being tried by a local group of retail veterans in downtown Rogers at White River House & Home.

Matt Fifer joined together with Mike Cockrell, who spent 31 years at Walmart, to try their hand at a new retail venture featuring hand-crafted furniture and home furnishings which are crowdsourced from regional artisans. They declined to offer details on the upfront investment. The store is located in leased space at 111 N. Second St. in downtown Rogers.

Fifer brought in Greg Primm and Ben Roberts, two former Country Outfitter executives, as financial partners who could also lend expertise with online commerce. Cockrell runs the day-to-day operations and serves as president for the group. Kagney West was brought on as the lead designer who also helps with marketing and buying.

Cockrell said as he and Fifer talked through the strategy for the business the idea was to have a small brick-and-mortar presence and grow the online. Fifer said the store will also become a destination. They serve hot cinnamon rolls every Saturday morning and host artisan speakers and workshops to draw attention to the collections on display, and discuss new trends in home furnishing and decor.

Fifer said White River House & Home is a marketplace for craftsman to sell their products. The company buys the pieces from the craftsman and then resells it in the store. He said given the 200% to 400% traditional markup in furniture there is room to pay artisans what they ask and still make a retail profit. Much of the furniture on display in the store is made from reclaimed lumber such as barn wood.

Home furnishings is a category gravitating online and a fairly crowded space with the likes of Joss & Main and Wayfair online and local ventures such as Howse, James + James and Eco-Vet who have been active in the handcrafted wood furniture category for several years.

Around 40% of products in the store are sourced from the local region including Rogers, Fort Smith, Missouri and eastern Oklahoma. West said she also sourced product from Tennessee and Texas.

Cockrell said the building is 8,000 square feet, with 3,000 set up for the retail center. While retail is the main business of this venture, they are also dabbling in the service area doing design staging work for local Realtors. Fifer would like to set up retail display windows in Fort Smith, Conway and other cities to feature some of the artisan pieces.

Cockrell said the company is using social media for marketing, with the partners from Country Outfitter helping the company grow in a sustainable fashion.

Country Outfitters, formerly owned by Acumen Brands, grew sales from $1 million in 2011 to $15 million by the end of 2012. Acumen founder John James told Talk Business & Politics in 2015 Country Outfitter started out to sell boots and other western apparel online leveraging the power of Facebook. The business went from 0 Facebook fans to 7 million in four months. After cash troubles hit Acumen Brands in early 2017 and the company started to unwind its assets, Country Outfitter was sold for $1.8 million to California-based Boot Barn Holdings.

Primm once worked as marketplace director at Country Outfitters, and Roberts was vice president of marketing at Acumen, managing Country Outfitters and two other brands from 2012 to 2015 when he left the company to take a senior marketing role with Outdoor Cap Co. in Bentonville, where he still works.