SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Quality Furniture owner Jeannie Rocher does not want to be seen as the David trying to combat the Goliath big box furniture store that just rolled into town.

Quality Furniture owner Jeannie Rocher, right, sits with her daughter and employee Jessie, inside the family-run shop on June 4. - Thandiwe Vela/NNSL photo

While some people may have expected her to be pulling her hair out in crisis, closing down, or re-strategizing to compete with The Brick's debut in Yellowknife, two months after the franchise set up shop, it was business as usual at the Franklin Avenue furniture store Saturday afternoon – Rocher whizzed about, greeting and joking with customers, and attending to her cheerful staff.

Rocher said she is tired of the direct comparisons between her family-run furniture store and The Brick, and the ensuing assumptions of the small business's jeopardy.

"This is not The Brick," Rocher said, waving her hand toward three white ceramic ptarmigans sitting on an antique cherry chest; the Northern chameleon birds with orange beaks and swirly green detailing display a reminder of the unique flair of small local businesses.

Such unique items are one of the reasons why customers continue to frequent her shop, Rocher said.

"I know I don't want to walk into a party wearing the same outfit as one of my girlfriends."

In addition to ordering furniture from a wide range of brand-name companies, including Palliser and Ashley furniture, original clocks and other one-of-a-kind pieces line the walls and four floors of the downtown shop, ordered from all over the country as well as locally.

The vast selection of items is appreciated by customers, Rocher said, with more than 18,000 square feet of furnishings on the store's premises, an additional 5,000 square feet of just sofas at the warehouse across the street, and several more warehouses in the Yellowknife area.

With no shortage of local storage space, the business is able to deliver purchases sooner, rarely having to order out of stock, which is one of the things that drove longtime customer Howard McKay back to Quality after going to purchase a new dresser at another furniture store and being told his dresser would not arrive for weeks.

"Whatever you need is in stock," said McKay, who has been furnishing his homes at Quality since Rocher's parents Johnnie and Mary started the family business in the fifties as a second-hand shop in Old Town. "We probably have something in every room of the house from here," he said. "They've always been good to us."

While times have changed since Quality was the only furniture shop in town, Rocher says they have not engaged in any panic-stricken re-strategizing in light of The Brick's debut.

However, Richard Truscott, the Alberta and NWT director for the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, says it "definitely is a major threat when a big box retailer comes into the market," and encourages small businesses to strategize accordingly.

"It means small businesses need to be versatile, they need to adapt, and they need to be responsive to those changes in the market," Truscott said.

The niche strategy, or picking a segment of the market to go after as opposed to competing with the mass retail approach, is one way smaller businesses are surviving the entrance of big box stores to the market, with their large scale purchasing power enabling them to provide lower prices.

Surprisingly, some items, including a children's bedroom set carried by both Quality and The Brick, are priced cheaper at Quality, but Truscott encourages small businesses to focus on other things besides competing on price, which on its own does not compromise the viability of a smaller business.

"People are looking for a good price but, more importantly, they're looking for value and a trust with retailers," Truscott said.

Knowledge of the products and services, going that extra mile for customers, and building trusting relationships is where the strength in Quality lies, Rocher said.

"In a small town, these are our neighbours," she said. "We treat them right because we want to make sure we can say 'hi' to them everyday."

Community support is integral to the success of small businesses, Truscott said, noting surveys conducted by the CFIB have shown more than 90 per cent of Canadians want to support small business.

"Putting their money where their mouth is would be a great help for the smaller business community," Truscott said, adding local business owners often live, work, and are generally more involved in supporting the community in return.

"Small businesses aren't just the backbone of our economy," Truscott said. "They are also the heart and soul of our communities."

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