SE Retail

Designers. Engineers. Craftsmen. And Perfectionists.

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Why we’re different. And better.

1. We encourage you to investigate.

We want you to check us out. We want you to scour our past, present, future…and our social media. Leave no stone unturned! We want you to see our 40 year record of dynamic success, our financial stability, and our 125,000-square-foot production facility. Why? Because we want you to know we’re not going anywhere. We’re solid and steady, while still being creative and a wee bit crazy.

2. We hold planning sessions.

Planning sessions are like happy hours to us. We love ’em. We work with you to develop a project roadmap with clear deliverables and next steps. We’ve found that setting the groundwork in this way gets the job done on time and on budget. It’s also a great way to get to know your team, which helps us create an experience – not just a checklist.

3. We like to show off.

Sure, we’ve got youth, energy, and creativity on our side. But we’re talking about the big guns: our 3D printer, CNC routers, dowel machines, just to name a few. Not sure what that means? Basically, we’ve got the equipment to take your vision and create a beautiful, inspired environment for your customers. We can execute whatever you can dream up, and our interiors are always top-notch.

4. We keep it all under one roof.

By retaining control over all aspects of a project, we stay on top of deadlines and budgets. In-house design means we can give immediate feedback and kick off production quickly. Plus, having it all – design, engineering, manufacturing, installation – means our team is knowledgeable about the hurdles and challenges faced at each stage of the process, so a solution is never far from reach.

5. We assign you a Project Manager.

Your dedicated Project Manager will be with you through thick and thin and will handle communication, field questions, and oversee the entire process to make sure your project goes off without a hitch. They’re essential to us, and they’ll become essential to you too. From kickoff through installation they’ll be your ultimate wing-person–they’ll bridge any gaps and make sure all the bases are covered. You may have a new best friend when all is said and done.

6. We take the time to know your people. And we understand your concerns.

We get to know your team, what they’re like, and what they want. We understand the balancing act that exists between vision and budget, and the stress that can create. By knowing your fears, we can help to reassure you of our strengths and differences. We have heard too many war stories of poor vendor communication and sub-par results, and that’s just not who we are. We know you. We get you. And we’re ready to rock.

6 ½. Let’s talk.

Yes, we added a 1/2, for good measure. Let’s talk about the future. We’re not shy about the retail industry; you’ll find we’re not shy about much. Where do you want your brand to go? Contact us to help get you there.

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Customer Experience. If you build It…will they come?

Maybe.

Not the solid, vote of confidence you were looking for? You’re not alone.

Today’s consumer is an ever-evolving ball of challenges for retailers to overcome. And your target consumer has additional complexities that are specific to your brand’s demographics. Fun, right?

Today’s Consumer (we’ll call him/her “TC” for short) has the following characteristics:

-Is always connected; are information driven and price conscious.

-Expects his or her needs to be instantly met, and is easily turned off by mistakes.

-Desires consistency across all brand aesthetics and requires that the store environment provides them with an experience.

So how can today’s brick and mortar retailers not only compete, but compete and win? Well, the way we see it, retailers have only limited control over the first two items.

First, your stores will not always have the best product at the lowest price. To overcome this obstacle a retailer needs to work towards making the products less of a commodity in the eyes of a consumer (even if you are selling a literal commodity). How is that done?

Since there are no more second chances with TC, and we all know that things happen, machines break, and lines form. What is a retailer to do? Humans are imperfect and issues with speed of service, out of stocks, or lack of product knowledge can easily become customer frustrations that can be outside of management control. What will keep your frustrated customer from walking away and never returning?

Since TC requires an experience in your store, retailers can use this as a mitigating factor for the other two demands. Think about it. An in-store experience is meant to, among other things, help customers enjoy their visit, linger longer, and explore new or different product offerings [read: spend more].

If you create a pleasing environment for your customers, a higher priced item may no longer be a turn off. TC becomes willing to pay a bit more for the relaxed or comforting feeling they get when shopping the store. Similarly the customer frustrations that can occur on a typical day in retail are no longer deal breakers for your brand. TC may try something new and will plan on checking back for the out of stock item, for example.

So we say ALL of this to say, that providing an in-store experience for your customers is not solely to attract them to shop your store over a competitor. A retail environment and in-store experience serves to make what you sell less of a commodity and also softens the impact of any customer frustrations that will inevitably occur. An in-store experience helps to create loyalty.

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This is Women’s Business.

You read that correctly. Everyone in our 100,000 square foot production facility as well as our design team, engineers, installation and road crew, and even her son Tyler (sometimes) reports to our owner, Mrs. Ann Burgess.

In the manufacturing world, we like to think of ourselves as unique, and not just because Mrs. Ann signs the paychecks.

We set lofty goals for ourselves, and work tirelessly to achieve them. We are always researching, exploring, and learning new and better ways to over-deliver for our clients.

We are a values-based, family business and are proud of the culture of success that thrives within our company. We give credit where credit is due, and we take responsibility for our mistakes. We like to say that we’re different. On purpose.

Aside from the “warm fuzzy” details that make us who we are, we have raised the bar in retail interior environments. We collaborate, we think differently, and we are not afraid to propose what might seem like an “out there” idea. We push the limits of creativity and then value engineer the concept to work for the space and the budget.

We are trusted by brands like Whole Foods, Food Lion, Earth Fare, Ahold, LiDL, University of South Carolina, RaceTrac and many, many more.

Retailers work with us because we deliver and we care.

 

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Brick & Mortar Going the Way of the Dodo? Don’t Think So.

There have been industry reports swirling for years that storefront numbers are decreasing and consumer retail is moving to a new address: The Internet. While we have all seen the rapid expansion of e-commerce, we don’t think we should be preparing brick and mortar’s grave just yet. Hear us out on this:

There is no question that a 24-7-365 online shop with a worldwide reach and reduced overhead is an enticing, straightforward way to bring a retailer’s products to a broader audience. It is also a fact that consumers want to order paper towels while walking down the hall. They also want to make that impulse gadget purchase at midnight on a Friday after a few cocktails. Our argument is that while we are probably all too familiar with those inclinations, there exists an interesting paradox within today’s consumer. It is this dichotomy of belief that we believe gives the breath of life to B&M retailers of pretty much any size.

Yes, today’s consumer wants convenience. The advancements made in the retail e-commerce space in the last decade have been monumental. But in the same breath that today’s consumer rattles off all of the advantages and convenience (and fun) of a service like Amazon Prime, they are also touting the importance of a customized experience.

Today’s consumer expects more from “their” brands. Shoppers want to interact with brands with clear values and a great story. They expect the retail environment to be welcoming, engaging, and to an extent, comforting. Today’s consumer feels very strongly about the brands with which they choose to engage. They are totally disengaged from brands that do not (from their perspective) put enough weight on customer experience.

All of that said, if we take our very simplistic paper towel example to conclusion: it may seem convenient for consumers to order paper towels on the go, but if they find themselves out of paper towels these very same consumers will drive past countless drug stores, gas stations, dollar stores, and even grocery stores, to visit a retailer where they feel comfortable, connected, respected, and appreciated.

So it really isn’t all about convenience, is it?

 

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The Tyler Burgess Experience in 10 items or less.

Tyler Burgess was born into a counter culture. The checkout counter culture. The family business. Life in the express lane where the retail experience was discussed around the dinner table like weather and Aunt Ruth’s meatloaf recipe. From Tyler’s perspective, the retail space is an event, not a location. It’s a live act. And Tyler believes in living. The Roots played his 30th birthday party. He was in the front row for Drew Brees’ 32 Super Bowl passes. He is committed to living the full human experience…and he engineers it into every modern retail environment he touches.

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Southeastern Circus Act: Write Schedules, Plan Projects, Shrink Timelines and Increase ROI

Project schedules, lead times and ROI are all words that can either make you cringe or jump with joy. The deciding factor is not what you are using, but who. While the average project timeline in this industry is 8 to 10 weeks, (don’t cringe yet!) here at Southeastern, we cut that time in half. These are the 5 rules to completing a design-build project from start to finish and the important things to remember along the way. Plus, how we can help you write schedules, plan projects, shrink time-lines, and increase ROI. Don’t you want to jump with joy, too?

1. Getting Quick Approval

It all starts with receiving plans from a customer and getting them to CAD. This involves asking the question: how soon can we take your plans and get everything approved? In order to schedule a roll out in a specific time frame, we first need to get the customers plans to our manufacturing team for approval and then returned for customer approval. Our typical turnaround timeframe for approval is between 48-72 hours.

2. Keeping Your Material Acquisition Healthy

Manufacturing lead times can really leave you waiting. When selecting a vendor, our first priority is the quality of the product. The second factor is the price and the third is the location. It’s a difficult balance to find vendors who fit into all three of those categories. Luckily, the best way to keep your raw materials pipeline flowing is to have longstanding vendor partnerships. At Southeastern, our acquisition for raw materials is closer to the speed of sound than to a cow crossing the road, and fast manufacture lead times leads to shrinking your timeline and saving you money.

3. Crosstraining to Cut Your Lead Time 

Here at Southeastern we try to make the impossible possible. Since the retail design industry isn’t static, everyone knows that the quickest way to get your new design on the floor depends on the manufacturing process. The breadth of the store and involvement in the design process contributes to figuring out how long of a lead-time is needed. When production requires, we turn to a method we believe makes our production capacity reach beyond the norm. Southeastern employees have multiple skill sets, not only helping to keep operations running in shifts that can help produce faster without sacrificing the quality of the product which makes timelines shorter. Having multiple skill sets in the company also make them an asset to you, your end product, and our company while giving our employees a greater self worth.

4. Shrink Your Timeline

The extra time it takes to complete a project is lost money, but shrinking timelines without sacrificing the quality of the work saves everyone money. The typical time between introducing concepts and manufacturing is 8-10 weeks in this industry. We think that is too long. With fast approval, crosstraining and having experts running the production and rollouts, we cut the average timeline in half. While our competitors are spending 2 weeks on CAD, 2 weeks on material acquisition, and 6 weeks on manufacturing, we are doing those steps in half the time. Our single store production time is typically 4-6 weeks, but we do mass rollouts, too. Our team completed 68 store remodels concurrently for Food Lion, including décor and woodwork, in 3-4 months due to our quick approval turnaround, vendor partnerships and aggressive lead time.

5. Write a Schedule with Flexibility

The installation process involves meticulous planning and attention to detail. Our project managers oversee the details so that you, our valued customers don’t have to. In order to make the installation process as flawless as possible, our project managers write schedules based off of construction dates. By making an exhaustive to-do list from A to Z, we make sure to stay on time while working with the general contractors, too. But we also realize that historically every good plan has a hiccup or two, so it is extremely importance to allow room for flexibility in your schedule. By building room to adjust into the schedule, we can keep the project in our customer’s timeline even if the general contractor is late.
You don’t need to cringe at the sight of project schedules and lead times anymore. Increasing your ROI is easy with these 5 important rules to remember when completing a project, and we can help bring you the success your projects deserve.

 

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