Greer’s Home Furnishings first opened its doors in Loudon, Tennessee, in August of 1890. As the local retailer celebrates a major milestone, we caught up with three generations of the family-owned operation — which remains in the Greer lineage.

Element Electronics Co-president Vlad Kazhdan jumps onto the Independent Thinking Podcast to talk about the brand’s move into the home appliance industry. Element and Nationwide Marketing Group have partnered to roll out a new line of Element appliances exclusively for Nationwide dealers.

Troy Varness, general manager of Spokane-based retailer Fred’s Appliances, shares his experience running an appliance shop during COVID-19 and the challenges they’ve had to overcome in recent weeks. He also shares his experience as an early adopter of the NMG-exclusive Assortment Rationalization Tool.

Independent furniture retailers faced some major disadvantages during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. We spoke through those challenges and more with Furniture Today Senior Editor Powell Slaughter.

Appliance retailers across the country have had their fair share of obstacles to overcome over the past year, from tariff concerns, to coronavirus, to inventory shortages. We run through it all with Grant Morgan, senior editor at TWICE.

Mattress retailers have been forced to take a hard look at their business model in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We chat with Chris Schriever, publisher of Sleep Retailer, about the modernization of the mattress category, and more. 

Continuing our trade media partner series on the Independent Thinking Podcast, Jason Knott, Chief Content Officer at CE Pro, hops on to talk about his recent coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges technology integrators face and more.

Mark Quinn and Mark Kinsley, the two Marks behind the Dos Marcos Podcast, talk about their path towards building the galaxy’s greatest mattress podcast — and so much more.

Josh Rookstool, director of sales for SUNHEAT International, talks about the family-owned brand and shares the latest on their plans to hold their 13th annual SUNHEAT Open charity golf event, set for July 31. Head over to sunheat.com for all the details!

Art can certainly be beautiful. But the ART that we’re referring to here is Nationwide’s new Assortment Rationalization Tool. Data visualizations, which is the simplest way to describe ART, can certainly be beautiful in their own way. And this type of ART promises to streamline an independent retailer’s business.

Joe Ochs, the VP of Sales for Bray & Scarff, a DC-Baltimore-based appliance retailer and kitchen design outfit, chats about what it’s been like managing more than a dozen stores during the coronavirus pandemic, the digital efforts of the retailer, and how they’re preparing to fully reopen their stores.

Nationwide’s VP of Home Appliances Doug Wrede recaps how dealers in the home appliance category — deemed essential across most of the country during the coronavirus pandemic — fared the past few weeks and looks at what challenges lie ahead in the second half of the year.

The digital transformation of the retail industry was kicked into high gear as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Chat, appointment shopping, video consultations and more have been nothing short of a lifeline for many independent retailers during this time. We dive deep into digital with Nationwide’s tech guru, Dev Mukherjee.

Donnie Thedford, co-owner of Don’s TV & Appliance, talks about his foray into the world of chat. Thedford recently rejoined Nationwide Marketing Group and almost immediately began realizing the benefits of a full-blown chat strategy — at just the right time, too, as COVID-19 began forcing businesses into a state of uncertainty.

Steve Mahler is the director of Point of Sale (POS) for Nationwide Marketing Group and the perfect guy to talk to if you’re interested in learning everything there is to know about POS. He spoke with us about how POS has evolved over the years and the many benefits retailers can realize by utilizing the right POS for their business. 

The novel coronavirus has had an impact on nearly every aspect of our daily lives — and the same holds true for retail. John Riddle, president and CEO of Howard’s, shares how the Southern California retailer has adjusted to this “new normal.”

The outdoor category presents a massive opportunity to independent retailers of all shapes and sizes — and no one can explain why better than Nationwide’s own John Laing, director of outdoor. 

PJ Orsini, a third-generation retail owner, has seen business boom during the coronavirus crisis. How? He’s leaned into new digital offerings and capitalized on the Paycheck Protection Program. He walks us through the past few weeks at Orsini’s.

The past few weeks haven’t been too kind to the independent furniture and bedding retailers around the country. As COVID-19 continues to dominate headlines, Nationwide’s F&B team — lead by Jeff Rose — has been hard at working giving dealers the resources they need to continue serving their communities.

Selling the smart home is about more than just displaying some cool products. Two new Nationwide Marketing Group programs — one focusing on merchandising, the other on offering tech support — prove why.