and why is this on hacker news
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Nebraska Furniture Mart
21–30 of 77 posts
Re: Nebraska Furniture Mart
#22I have no idea why this is on the front page of Hacker News but I'm not hating it. I moved from Omaha to the Denver/Boulder area two years ago and besides the Henry Doorly Zoo, I miss Nebraska Furniture Mart the most. NFM is a great place to buy pretty much anything you want to put in your house. Mrs. B really knew how to make a business work. The only weird thing is how antiquated their computer systems are, it's am…
> The only weird thing is how antiquated their computer systems are, it's amazing they are so profitable with 70's era technology running the business.
I live near and have shopped at the largest of their locations many times and all of their associates carry tablets to close sales right there on the floor. Hardly 70s technology (though the UI they use isn't modern necessarily). Their online presence isn't anything scoff at either.
Re: Nebraska Furniture Mart
#23Another interesting one is Hickory (NC) Furniture Mart. It started as a drive-in restaurant and pivoted over time into a mall with over 100 furniture stores.
Re: Nebraska Furniture Mart
#24I have no idea why this is on the front page of Hacker News but I'm not hating it. I moved from Omaha to the Denver/Boulder area two years ago and besides the Henry Doorly Zoo, I miss Nebraska Furniture Mart the most. NFM is a great place to buy pretty much anything you want to put in your house. Mrs. B really knew how to make a business work. The only weird thing is how antiquated their computer systems are, it's am…
The only weird thing is how antiquated their computer systems are, it's amazing they are so profitable with 70's era technology running the business.
That's what I always think whenever I'm in a Starbucks and see the drive-through orders appearing on an IBM PC-era 80x25 text display. But hey, if it works, and if it's reliable, and if it doesn't have to talk to too many other systems, why not?
Re: Nebraska Furniture Mart
#25Omaha represent!
Re: Nebraska Furniture Mart
#26I have no idea why this is on the front page of Hacker News but I'm not hating it. I moved from Omaha to the Denver/Boulder area two years ago and besides the Henry Doorly Zoo, I miss Nebraska Furniture Mart the most. NFM is a great place to buy pretty much anything you want to put in your house. Mrs. B really knew how to make a business work. The only weird thing is how antiquated their computer systems are, it's am…
> It's amazing they are so profitable with 70's era technology running the business. Without knowing any details, I would say that there are people who would argue that this attitude may be one of the reasons they are profitable. Why change a perfectly working system your customer does have no direct interaction with?
> Why change a perfectly working system your customer does have no direct interaction with?
Because you can't buy replacement parts when something breaks?
Re: Nebraska Furniture Mart
#27Just to clarify "largest home furnishing store" the article literally means by sq ft within a single structure. Obviously the Ikeas of the world have much more total sq ft.
Interestingly, built in the same lot where the world's largest sporting goods store is currently being built (opening early next year).
Re: Nebraska Furniture Mart
#28Does anyone here know what exactly is NFM’s moat? Price, Selection, Customer Service? All the above?
Re: Nebraska Furniture Mart
#29Re: Nebraska Furniture Mart
#30Does anyone here know what exactly is NFM’s moat? Price, Selection, Customer Service? All the above?
Personally, all of the above. Most of my furnishings and appliances have been purchased there, the sheer volume of choice coupled with reasonable pricing and ease of purchase/delivery sets them apart from niche stores and/or difficult purchasing processes. It's much easier spending an afternoon walking around dozens of couches than traveling store to store (knowing evaluation must be in person for such an item).