{"id":772589,"date":"2026-04-07T06:31:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&#038;p=772589"},"modified":"2026-04-07T06:31:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:31:37","slug":"ashley-furniture-store-planning","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning","title":{"rendered":"The World\u2019s Largest Furniture Maker on the Science of Retail Planning"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[11272,471991,1261,1161,238001],"department":[476812],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-772589","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-demographics","tag-market-analysis","tag-real-estate","tag-retail","tag-site-selection","department-business-growth"],"acf":{"short_description":"At this year\u2019s NRF show, home goods giant Ashley Furniture gave a master class in optimizing market planning through location analytics.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"At January\u2019s National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show in New York City, one statistic left a lasting impression: Around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emarketer.com\/content\/retail-dining-foot-traffic-up\">83 percent of all retail purchases<\/a> still occur in physical stores."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"<strong>Snapshot<\/strong>: One of the world\u2019s largest furniture retailers explains why GIS technology is valuable in understanding everything from which locations will attract target customers to how a building\u2019s height impacts sales.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Even in an age of one-click checkout and agentic commerce, businesses including retailers, financial companies, and real estate developers live by a timeless rule: To identify locations where your business will thrive, you must first know where your customers are.\r\n\r\nThat may explain the buzz around an NRF panel discussion that featured a story of retail innovation. Ashley Furniture, one of the world\u2019s largest furniture manufacturers and retailers, explained how it harnesses mapping and analytics to expand its network of nearly 1,000 stores across North America and stay connected with customers.\r\n<h3><strong>Map Reveals What a Market Really Looks Like<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nIn this video excerpt from the panel, Ashley business intelligence manager John Bullock and GIS developer Allie Scott detail how geographic information system <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/enterprise-technology-behind-big-business-decisions\">(GIS) technology<\/a> guides decisions on where to place stores\u2014and even on how to optimize a location\u2019s visibility and inventory."},{"acf_fc_layout":"kaltura","video_id":"1_5bhm64z4","time":false,"start":0,"stop":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Many retailers still draw simple circles on a map to estimate a store\u2019s trade area. Using GIS, Bullock and Scott analyze customer drive times by accounting for road types, traffic, and other geographic factors. The resultant trade areas look jagged and organic\u2014and much more accurate.\r\n\r\nWith these maps, Ashley\u2019s real estate teams see whether two stores might cannibalize each other\u2019s customers and identify where desirable neighborhoods intersect, pinpointing a location that can serve multiple key demographics.\r\n\r\nThis fine-tuned understanding of markets, grounded in location analytics, can even extend to a store\u2019s product assortment. To better meet customer needs, Bullock and Scott plan to analyze data on how products perform in different geographies\u2014then share the intelligence with store managers so they can adjust merchandise accordingly.\r\n<h3><strong>The Science of Store Visibility<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nMarket planning is more than a quest for the right location; it\u2019s an opportunity to optimize that location for customer convenience.\r\n\r\nEconomic studies have found that stores with better visibility <a href=\"https:\/\/www.retailcustomerexperience.com\/blogs\/the-real-impact-of-store-appearance-on-your-bottom-line\/\">attract more customers<\/a>. In fact, a smart store location can create a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/demand-signals-and-profitability\">halo effect<\/a> in which online and in-store sales reinforce each other."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"<strong>Related Read:<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\/\/ How <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/dicks-sporting-goods-strengthens-omnichannel-through-brick-and-mortar-planning\">one retailer<\/a> makes the most of analytics","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Ashley\u2019s team uses GIS and data science to explore the link between store visibility and sales performance.\r\n\r\nTo maximize the brand\u2019s physical presence, Scott and Bullock score how visible a store is to drivers and pedestrians using location-based metrics. They analyze factors including the speed of passing traffic, the volume of drivers, local demographics, viewsheds, and idiosyncrasies like left-hand turns and U-turns.\r\n\r\nNext, they use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/what-is-gis\/overview\">GIS<\/a> to simulate options for facade heights and property sizes, modeling in 3D how a store\u2019s performance changes depending on whether it is two or three stories tall, or occupies a street corner versus a shopping mall.\r\n\r\n\u201cOur buildings are marketing in themselves,\u201d Scott explains.\r\n<h3><strong>Backed by Sophisticated Analysis, Small Decisions Add Up to Big Gains<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nEvery business\u2014from a small bank to a global commercial real estate firm\u2014makes market planning decisions based on an understanding of location, even if it\u2019s something as simple as a site visit to check out neighboring businesses.\r\n\r\nIndustry leaders like Ashley fine-tune their understanding. They use location analysis to answer critical questions about who visits stores, what they buy, and how best to reach them."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Retail Planning at Ashley Furniture Puts Customers First<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ashley Furniture distinguishes stores through visibility, access\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The World\u2019s Largest Furniture Maker on the Science of Retail Planning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ashley Furniture distinguishes stores through visibility, access\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Esri\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/worlds-largest-furniture-maker-wherenext-card-826x465-1.jpg\" \/><meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/worlds-largest-furniture-maker-wherenext-card-826x465-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Esri\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Retail Planning at Ashley Furniture Puts Customers First\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2026-04-07T13:31:37+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Ashley Furniture distinguishes stores through visibility, access\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"The World\u2019s Largest Furniture Maker on the Science of Retail Planning\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Esri\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Esri Newsroom\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b890389919572d29641d24fc67eaf376\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Chris Chiappinelli\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Esri-Chris_Chiappinelli_540x540.jpg\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Esri-Chris_Chiappinelli_540x540.jpg\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Chris Chiappinelli\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"description\": \"Chris Chiappinelli is the editor of Esri\u2019s WhereNext magazine. Through his writing, he explores the intersection of business strategy and location intelligence\u2014and strategic challenges like sustainability, growth, and risk. Prior to joining Esri, Chris managed internal content for PTC, a pioneer in IoT technology, smart products, and augmented reality. Earlier in his career, Chris spent a decade as a journalist covering business and technology news.\",\n\t            \"sameAs\": [\n\t                \"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/chris-chiappinelli-ba56814\",\n\t                \"https:\/\/x.com\/chrischip\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/author\/cchiappinelli\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Retail Planning at Ashley Furniture Puts Customers First","description":"Ashley Furniture distinguishes stores through visibility, access","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The World\u2019s Largest Furniture Maker on the Science of Retail Planning","og_description":"Ashley Furniture distinguishes stores through visibility, access","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning","og_site_name":"Esri","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/worlds-largest-furniture-maker-wherenext-card-826x465-1.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""},{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2026\/04\/worlds-largest-furniture-maker-wherenext-card-826x465-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Esri","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning","name":"Retail Planning at Ashley Furniture Puts Customers First","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-04-07T13:31:37+00:00","description":"Ashley Furniture distinguishes stores through visibility, access","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ashley-furniture-store-planning#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The World\u2019s Largest Furniture Maker on the Science of Retail Planning"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/","name":"Esri","description":"Esri Newsroom","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b890389919572d29641d24fc67eaf376","name":"Chris Chiappinelli","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Esri-Chris_Chiappinelli_540x540.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Esri-Chris_Chiappinelli_540x540.jpg","caption":"Chris Chiappinelli"},"description":"Chris Chiappinelli is the editor of Esri\u2019s WhereNext magazine. Through his writing, he explores the intersection of business strategy and location intelligence\u2014and strategic challenges like sustainability, growth, and risk. Prior to joining Esri, Chris managed internal content for PTC, a pioneer in IoT technology, smart products, and augmented reality. Earlier in his career, Chris spent a decade as a journalist covering business and technology news.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/chris-chiappinelli-ba56814","https:\/\/x.com\/chrischip"],"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/author\/cchiappinelli"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wherenext\/772589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wherenext"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wherenext"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wherenext\/772589\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772589"},{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=772589"},{"taxonomy":"wherenext-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wherenext-category?post=772589"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=772589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}