Premier Adds New Spin to Furniture Retail

When Marc Butler began offering lease-to-purchase financing options to his customers, it opened doors and was a way for him to respond to the needs of the American market.


Marc Butler, Premier Franchisee.

Recognizing its success in bringing retail to RTO operations, Premier Home Furnishings is now finding a niche in retail furniture stores and enabling owners to tap into the Rent-to-Own market. Premier Home Furnishings President Jim Schebler announced that Marc Butler, owner of Sofas 4 Less in Orlando, Fla., has become the first retailer to join the Premier Home Furnishings family.

Butler's 16 successful years in retail have been largely spent in London where he opened his first Sofas 4 Less retail store in 1998. His specialty has been in the direct import of southern Italian leather that he has used in the manufacture of his sofas. By importing material and cutting out the middle man, he has been able to offer higher quality mid-grade sofas for competitive prices. He offers 30 different styles in 15 different colors.

Three years ago, he explored the American market. Drawn to the Florida climate, he liked America and now plans to stay. But he very quickly learned that his business model – that included importing leather – wasn't going to work in the States.

"For starters, being over in the UK makes it easy to have leather transported from Italy," he says. "Here it takes longer and is more complicated to get. Plus, U.S. customers don't want to wait for anything. So special order wasn't working for me." Looking now for a niche in the American market, he investigated lease-purchase and the concept of "no credit check," which, according to him, doesn't exist in the UK. "They don't understand credit scores and lease-to-own." But Butler did and, working through a third party, began offering lease-to-purchase financing options to his customers. It opened doors and was a way for him to respond to the needs of the American market. "I had spent three years building up a furniture store, and I didn't want to dismantle it and change my concept of Sofas 4 Less." He just needed to enhance it and position himself to succeed in diverse directions.

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