Home Accents Today’s Retail Stars list recognizes independent brick-and-mortar retailers of home accents – including furniture stores, home accessories boutique stores and interior design showrooms – that merchandise creatively, have a positive presence in their local communities and stand out from the competition.
View the complete list here.
To nominate a retailer for our 2021 list, email Thomas Lester at [email protected].
Trinity Mercantile and Design
Decatur, Ga.
1 store
Estimated 2019 total sales: $1.35 million
trinity-decatur.com
Home design and furniture specialist, founded in 2012. Key suppliers include Lexington and Woodbridge Furniture for accent furniture; Jaipur Living, Surya and Stanton for area rugs; Tozai, Chelsea House, Blue Ocean Traders and Global Views for decorative accessories; Arteriors, Hudson Valley Lighting and Currey & Company for lamps/lighting; Worlds Away, Carvers Guild and Bungalow 5 for wall décor; Eastern Accents and Pine Cone Hill for soft goods. Attends Atlanta Market and High Point Market. Changes window displays often and merchandises in seasonal vignettes. Best retail idea is using the store as an event space for events and fundraisers.
In their own words
Please describe your visual merchandising scheme.
We change our two windows monthly and they are usually seasonal. We have vignettes in our store to display room style setting. We have a few specialized area such as a rug sample area, and a handmade section with gifts and accessories.”
What is the best retail idea you ever implemented that helped boost your sales/profits?
Charging people for our design time. We did it for free at first. We thought we could get in a home and sell them more easily, but it ended up they just used our ideas to shop around town. Now we charge and it narrows down the serious players.”
Thomas Lester is Digital/Managing Editor for Home Accents Today. A graduate of Emory & Henry College’s Mass Communications program, Lester spent a dozen years working for newspapers in Virginia and North Carolina covering an array of subjects, ranging from community news, government, education, ACC sports, professional baseball and more before joining Home Accents Today in 2013. Reach out to me with your story ideas, tips and more at [email protected].