In 1991, Columbia native Jerome Rackers returned to his hometown with a newly minted marketing degree from then-Central Missouri State University. He walked into Lifestyles Furniture at the corner of E. Walnut and N. Seventh streets and got himself a job working in delivery and service. After roughly six months, he was promoted to assistant manager and was elevated to manager just six months after that.
When Rackers began at Lifestyles, it was still operating as mostly a waterbed, ceiling fan, and brass bed store. After about four years of working at the business, Rackers bought it in 1995 with his wife, Cheryl, from its original owner, Dan Neenan.
“I think I’ve always wanted to be my own boss,” Rackers said. “A lot of it is also just being able to find good people and people that enjoy working. That makes it worthwhile.”
When Rackers and his wife took over the business, it had been selling futons to college students who were moving into unfurnished apartments. He said that that business was one of his favorites, because it made it easy to help customers.
“It was easy to take care of customers, because anything that happened, we in-house could handle fixing it,” Rackers said. “Now with upholstery, I have an upholstery repair guy that has to do several things we can’t do.”
Back then, the business sold more ready-to-assemble furniture, which meant each delivery was fairly time-consuming. Rackers noted that each futon delivery usually took about 30 minutes because the delivery crew had to put it together. With the store’s current focus on upholstered items, a crew can be in and out in 10 to 15 minutes.
Movin’ On Up
In August 2004, the Rackers decided to move the store to their current location at First and Broadway.
“I wanted something bigger,” Rackers recalled. “For us to do more volume, we were going to need something a little bigger. I’d been looking around trying to find something and figured out that this building that was interesting to me was not listed for sale, but I’d reached out to the owners and was able to negotiate with them.”
The building that is now home to Lifestyles Furniture was previously a nightclub. Rackers was drawn to it because of its open design and parking lot. He added that the corner lot made it accessible for loading furniture in and out of the building.
Today the store features a 7,500-square-foot showroom with 40 different monthly rotating mock room arrangements that showcase the furniture options that Lifestyles offers.
“When I bought it, it was a really big deal,” he said. “We were going into debt for more money than I ever thought possible, and yet here we are 22 years later.”
About nine years ago, Rackers added a warehouse to the building, after previously using an off-site facility. The addition made it easier to restock pieces of furniture bought off the floor.
Changing With the Times by Embracing Timelessness
Rackers said that even though a lot of Columbians still consider Lifestyles a college store, it hasn’t been one for a long time. Now that most college apartments typically come furnished, the store focuses sales more toward homeowners.
“I think part of it is just as you get older, you don’t want your furniture to be as disposable,” he said. “You don’t want to come back and do it again in three years. You want to come back in 10 or 12.”
Rackers observed that small businesses are also relationship oriented, and he loves when repeat customers come back to the store. He has emphasized building relationships with employees and customers, as well as manufacturers, ever since he took over the business.
Rob Medcalf, the store manager, has been with the business for about five years after seeing an ad posting on Facebook. Medcalf fell in love with the retail furniture business after starting at Lifestyles because of the one-on-one relationships he gets to build with customers.
“For a place where a customer doesn’t come often, maybe once or twice a year, for them to have a name-to-name relationship is pretty special.” Medcalf said. “If you already know the person, the conversation is so much more comfortable and easy.”
Because of Lifestyles’ focus on selling people furniture that will last, Rackers said that staff spend a lot of time helping customers match with furniture they love. He said that if customers are buying furniture they truly want, they will keep it much longer and be more satisfied with it.
Rackers encourages customers to find items and colors they’re genuinely excited about, rather than just what they see in the showroom.
“We’re looking to get you a sofa that is in the color you want and in the style that you want, not what I have on the floor,” Rackers said. “I’ll sell you what we have on the floor, but really I want to get you something you’re wanting to own.”
When Medcalf is selling some furniture, he likes to listen to customers, find out what they don’t need, and then narrow down to what will work best for them. Since Lifestyles Furniture is focused on customization, he says there is no reason every customer shouldn’t leave with exactly what they want.
The store uses technology that allows customers to see a piece of furniture they’re considering in different fabrics or leathers, ensuring they know what it will look like before they buy it.
“[The kiosks] have allowed the customer more knowledge and interaction with what they’re building before seeing it for the first time in their home,” Medcalf explained.
Rackers said that even though the furniture industry is moving toward “smart” furniture — incorporating such features as power-reclining capabilities and charging ports — Lifestyles keeps a majority of its stock in classic American-made furniture. He said that custom upholstery still makes up about 80 percent of the business.
“A lot of that [smart furniture] stuff is going to end up being gimmick-oriented,” Rackers said. “It’s gonna be gone so fast, it’ll be here and gone before you know it.”
Rackers thinks that the future of technology in furniture sales lies more in helping customers pick out their furniture, rather than in furniture that features technology.
“Power recliners and things like that would be technology that’s in furniture, but there isn’t anything like the refrigerators with a computer in the door,” he said. “There isn’t anything techie in that. What there is is technology to help you go through the process.”
Looking to the Future
For 50 years, Lifestyles Furniture has built its brand on forging relationships, navigating changing industry trends, and delivering classic custom upholstery. While Rackers isn’t going anywhere in the immediate future, he hopes to be able to pass the business down to someone else.
“I hope I can find the right person to do what I did, so that it can continue for another 50 years,” he said. “I do believe there’s always gonna be people looking to buy from a local store. I don’t think that’s ever gonna change.”
He added that customers feel good when they walk out of the store having bought a piece of furniture, and he doesn’t think the feeling is the same when people buy from big-box stores. He said that the most important thing for people shopping at his store is that they feel helped.
“You don’t have to buy from us to get help,” Rackers said. “We try to always be helpful.”
