Nebraska Furniture Mart

[NEDodger]

Rumors!!! New NFM for Gretna because there are flood plane needed for 72nd St.
According to Ryan Blumkin, Vice President of Nebraska Furniture Mart on Grow Omaha.

I just listened to the show and he literally said they are NOT moving.....

[Athomsfere]

Rumors!!! New NFM for Gretna because there are flood plane needed for 72nd St.
According to Ryan Blumkin, Vice President of Nebraska Furniture Mart on Grow Omaha.

I just listened to the show and he literally said they are NOT moving.....

Good! I saw that and was like great, guess I have no where local to buy things I want anymore...

[djc311]

The Mart will NEVER move - for good or bad they are too "set in their ways" and would rather make the existing location harder to shop at than try and give Omaha what it deserves, which would be the best "Nebraska Furniture Mart" out of all of their locations.

Doesn't anyone else find it somewhat odd that the market that basically helped them turn into who they are is the same market they ignore when it comes providing the best shopping experience to their customers? I mean it's "Nebraska" Furniture Mart, not Kansas Furniture Mart, Texas Furniture Mart, etc.

Regardless of how much money they put into their location here, it will never be a great consumer experience. Having to exit physical buildings to shop between electronics and furniture by crossing a parking lot that's extremely busy is awful. Shopping in the basement with low ceilings is not enjoyable. And of course there's the third building for clearance product.

I wonder if they still try and shove extended warranties down their customers' throats? They used to fire staff for not selling enough of it.

[Bob from Omaha]

The fact is that two things worked to bring on the current situation.

One, Mrs. B was probably the fiercest competitor on the planet. She wasn't kidding when she coined the phrase "Sell cheap and tell the truth". Generations of Nebraskans, Iowans, Missourians and Kansans and others were able to buy furniture and carpet well under prices elsewhere in the country and Mrs. B went to court to prove it. She sold carpet for less than manufacturers suggested retail. They sued her and the judge held in her favor and then he shopped at the store the next day.

Two, generations of customers refused to consider any other option when buying furniture and carpet. Other chains didn't even bring in product because she, in her own words, would "put them through a meat grinder". That loyalty gave us what we have now.

The Mart has zero incentive to abandon the current campus and build a monstrosity similar to KC and Dallas. Yes it would be nice but those are the facts and Ryan Blumkin laid it out pretty well, in spite of Trenton's antics.

[djc311]

For all of Omaha's sake, I hope we break the threshold of the population requirements for IKEA to finally consider building here.

First, the Mart has little to no contemporary furniture especially at good prices. Second, it wouldn't end up hurting everyone's favorite "Mart" because although they're both home furnishings stores, they attract different buyers.

I'm grateful for online shopping and the fact KC does have an IKEA.

[Louie]

For all of Omaha's sake, I hope we break the threshold of the population requirements for IKEA to finally consider building here.

First, the Mart has little to no contemporary furniture especially at good prices. Second, it wouldn't end up hurting everyone's favorite "Mart" because although they're both home furnishings stores, they attract different buyers.

I'm grateful for online shopping and the fact KC does have an IKEA.

Agreed, the Mart's lack of modern and contemporary options is annoying.

[Bob from Omaha]

There is an interesting dynamic in Des Moines that is related to this discussion.

In Des Moines NFM has a store that sells appliances and electronics and flooring. They relocated to a former Dahls grocery store building. It's not huge but is bright and modern. The Dahls store was vacant and I'm sure the price was more than attractive.

For furniture NFM acquired Homemakers Furniture and retained the separate name. The Homemakers store has been expanded and remodeled over the years and has a distribution center nearby that is connected by an enclosed connector. Again, the store is modern and attractive.

Yes, two separate stores five or so miles apart but still, both relatively modern and not disjointed. Unlike the Omaha store which is a hodgepodge of not terribly attractive buildings.

Again, the Mart hasn't really any incentive to do anything different in Omaha. Decades ago Mrs. B bought a farm northwest of 120th and Dodge with the idea of one day building a west store. Never happened. No need. I guess they are now sort of selling off the farm in pieces.

The incentive to build in KC, Dallas & Austin is that the population in each of them is multiple times that of Omaha and growing, in the case of Dallas & Austin that growth is exponential to an extent. Being owned by Buffet I'm sure he wants any investment to have the greatest return. Ryan might pay lip service to "Omaha being our home" but money talks. No offense to Ryan.

[djc311]

There is an interesting dynamic in Des Moines that is related to this discussion.

In Des Moines NFM has a store that sells appliances and electronics and flooring. They relocated to a former Dahls grocery store building. It's not huge but is bright and modern. The Dahls store was vacant and I'm sure the price was more than attractive.

For furniture NFM acquired Homemakers Furniture and retained the separate name. The Homemakers store has been expanded and remodeled over the years and has a distribution center nearby that is connected by an enclosed connector. Again, the store is modern and attractive.

Yes, two separate stores five or so miles apart but still, both relatively modern and not disjointed. Unlike the Omaha store which is a hodgepodge of not terribly attractive buildings.

Again, the Mart hasn't really any incentive to do anything different in Omaha. Decades ago Mrs. B bought a farm northwest of 120th and Dodge with the idea of one day building a west store. Never happened. No need. I guess they are now sort of selling off the farm in pieces.

The incentive to build in KC, Dallas & Austin is that the population in each of them is multiple times that of Omaha and growing, in the case of Dallas & Austin that growth is exponential to an extent. Being owned by Buffet I'm sure he wants any investment to have the greatest return. Ryan might pay lip service to "Omaha being our home" but money talks. No offense to Ryan.

I agree 100%... plus all of their out of state developments (not counting Iowa) has be incentivized by govt handouts... Kansas, Texas... they all helped pay to pull the Mart into those locations by assisting with attractive tax benefits and infrastructure development. I'm not sure of the status but they're putting a second location in Texas which is also being partially funded by their local govt $.

Don't get me wrong - I certainly agree that they're very smart when it comes to growing the company. However they like to act like Omaha is their home when it's convenient. They don't put money behind their original location unless it has direct impact on helping their out of state stores. Case in point, their newest warehouse for customer pickup that's ginormous was mainly built to support their other locations, not to improve the experience for their Omaha customers.

Since moving out west I won't shop at the Mart unless it's an absolute must. I can buy virtually everything I need at other retailers nearby including Best Buy at VP. Or, better yet, I simply go online. The last two mattresses I bought for my kids came from Walmart online and IMO they feel better than the mattresses we had before that came from the Mart for twice the cost.

They treat their employees like their expendable - the days of them being "family friendly" where the Blumkin brothers would buy cases of beer for employees to watch the Huskers National Championship game in the big screen room went by the wayside long ago... kinda like Huskers being good at football. I guess everything changes for the worse.

[Coyote]

Tacotopia
Oct. 8th, Sat at 12:00PM - 5:00PM
Nebraska Furniture Mart
700 South 72nd Street



Tacotopia is back for round 2!

The humble and delicious Taco offers the world so much and asks for little more than a tilted head. NFM is happy to be hosting another a taco-filled festival with vendors, entertainment, and activities the whole family can enjoy! Make sure to stop in October 8th starting at noon and celebrate National Hispanic Heritage month with a tasty taco.

[ita]

https://www.3newsnow.com/news/local-new ... Qhu4ONSGpQ

Zoey Muessel
The Nebraska-based furniture store, NFM, announced on Thursday its plans to open a fifth location in the city of Cedar Park, Texas.

The store, which is anticipated to be 1.2 million square feet in size, will be located approximately 19 miles northwest of downtown Austin.

According to a press release, the mart will be part of a development that will include a 250-room, full-service hotel as well as a 30,000-square-foot convention center.

“At NFM, we are in the business of improving peoples’ lifestyles which includes our customers, staff, and our communities and we are excited to add our second store in Texas,” said Tony Boldt, NFM President and CEO. “The city of Cedar Park and its surrounding communities have a great quality of life, and we are thrilled to be a part of it.”

[nativeomahan]

Soon NFM will just be another acronym that most of its customers haven’t a clue as to what those letters stand for.

[damonhynes]

Soon NFM will just be another acronym that most of its customers haven’t a clue as to what those letters stand for.

Like Burlington Northern Santa Fe changed to BNSF.

[djc311]

Soon NFM will just be another acronym that most of its customers haven’t a clue as to what those letters stand for.

I agree - so long to the family run locally operated company. It's all about the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I remember the days when they'd throw Husker-watch parties in the big screen room of the "Mega Mart".

I do whatever I can nowadays to not spend $1 in that place. They don't treat their employees like anything but a number today - it's like working for Target or Walmart.

Miss the days of Mrs B running over my feet with her motorized scooter.

[Coyote]

NFM Black Friday sale starts early this year



Maybe there's something to shopping early and stressing less. Black Friday isn't just about the day after Thanksgiving as more stores roll out deals early.