BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA - True to its name, GALVINS Business & Home Office Furniture sells furniture. But that doesn't come close to describing what the two-store Bay Area SOHO specialist really does for its customers.

"What we do is provide workspace solutions," said Patrick Galvin, president of GALVINS, at the retailer's brand new Berkeley location. "We call our salespeople 'space planners.' The first question we ask is, "What is your work space? How large is the area? Where is it located?"

"Our tag line - Putting together workspace solutions - is a crossover term that encompasses home office and small office."

Patrick Galvin is a partner with his father, Barry Galvin, owner and founder of GALVINS. After switching to an all-SOHO format four years ago at their original Redwood City location, the GALVINS expanded across San Francisco Bay with an 8,400-sqare-foot store in Berkeley that carries a 'who's who's' list of suppliers in the upper-middle to high end of the category.

A Perfect Fit

The price points - and GALVINS' emphasis on designing and selling "solutions" - are tailor-made to a Bay Area market that has a high percentage of telecommuters, entrepreneurs and others who are the prototypical SOHO consumer. As such, Berkeley was a natural geographic and philosophical choice for expansion.

"There are a lot of people on this side of the Bay who work in San Francisco or on the Peninsula and they face an awful commute," Patrick Galvin said. "If you live in the areas where our stores are located, that's a compelling reason for setting up an office at home.

"Second, a lot of small commercial businesses are moving to this side of the Bay."

He added that the Mid-Peninsula (Redwood City) and Berkeley both are regional shopping destinations. It's more than location, though. Much of Berkeley's consumer base has the mentality to match GALVINS' sophisticated approach to selling furniture: "You have the university here," said Barry Galvin. "There are people who get into a lot of detail and can clearly articulate what they want."

That fits right into the store's philosophy of working with consumers to design "solutions." While they take the same approach with all the product, the GALVINS credit their longest-term and highest-volume supplier, Techline, with the development of their service style.

Since GALVINS designs offices to fit a space, the modularity of Techline's 18,000 SKUs allows unlimited flexibility. The fact that other suppliers such as Sligh and Jesper also emphasize modular systems has allowed GALVINS to use the same strategy while providing a wider choice of styles.

"We go into the home, make measurements and offer a system," said Patrick Galvin. "That's why Techline is our leading vendor. We're training our people not to sell a desk or file, but a system."

GALVINS' track record with the supplier makes it a rarity among Techline dealers. Techline has dual distribution: the retail channel of dealers that sell Techline in addition to other offerings; and Techline Studios, which traditionally have been limited to stores selling only Techline.

"Although we carry 15 furniture manufacturers, we're a Techline Studio," said Patrick Galvin. "Our Techline sales were so strong that the results spoke for themselves."

Products That Work

Total Techline square footage in the Berkeley store is 2,600, but that includes more than just a showroom presentation. GALVINS has outfitted three complete working offices with Techline product:

• A "hoteling" office for the owners to use when they're working in the store;

• The manager's office;

• And another housing a computer-aided-design equipment and a conference table for space planning and office layout sessions.

The employee breakroom also is outfitted in Techline.

These areas allow customers to see workspace planning in action.

"Those Techline offices are going to sell as much furniture as anything in the showroom in the store," said Patrick Galvin. "Our break room is also selling space. Every company has a break room."

GALVINS uses a similar hands-on tactics to promote other lines throughout the store. There are four "pods" in the showroom, working vignettes that function as designer workstations where space planners can work with their customers.

"One thing that we've noticed about some retailers is that they don't provide enough customer service," said Barry Galvin. "They take a bull-pen approach, clustering salespeople behind counters. But we space salespeople throughout the store.

"Customers feel pampered when you sit down with them, and they relate better to the furniture when they see people actually working with it."

The new store's layout, designed by Kief-Walls Group, also is designed to put customers at ease.

"You can escape the salespeople - some people want to be helped right away while others don't want to be approached," said Barry Galvin. "We took a maze approach, so you almost have to explore. If people look at an open field, it's hard to stay focused, but if you put blinders and blinkers on them with aisles and dividers, they see the product."

Net Material

While many furniture stores have yet to do little more than kick the tires on the Internet, GALVINS has found an important role for the Web. GALVINS has two web sites: One is for the stores in general, the other is billed as the Berkeley Techline Studio.

Along with a virtual store, product pictures and product specifications, the GALVINS' sites can help shorten the buying process in a way that ties in with the retailer's positioning as provider of workspace planning solutions.

"It had always taken three or four visits for shoppers to make a decision, and the Web site allows them to provide information to shorten that cycle," said Barry Galvin.

"They can also provide measurements of their workspace and get that done before they come in."

And in a region with one of the highest concentrations of Internet users in the country, GALVINS ties all advertising to its Web site.

"Our print advertising has a puzzle them that fits perfectly with the Web site," said Patrick Galvin. "We do our newspaper advertising in the Sunday magazine versus the main circulation. This has become the de facto place in print for the higher end Bay Area furnishings stores."

• A new 8,400-square-foot store in Berkeley, California.

• A 6,500-square-foot showroom in Redwood City, California.

1976:
Opened as The Hammock Way in Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, selling hanging furnishings and hammocks.

1981:
Switched to a lifestyle concept and opened mall locations first in Palo Alto, then San Mateo, selling furniture, housewares, outdoor furniture and accessories.

1988:
Entered home office category when it closed first three stores and re-opened as Home Works in Redwood City.

1995:
Switched to all home office and business office furniture format.

1997:
Changed name to GALVINS Business and Home Office Furniture. "We deal with some fairly big businesses, and needed to take 'home' out of the name," explains Patrick Galvin.

• Top Five Suppliers: Techline, Sligh, Herman Miller for the Home, Jesper, and Dencon.

• Best-Selling Configurations: Modular systems, especially incorporating a corner.

• Price Points: Modular systems $1,500 to $4,400; basic pedestal desk, file and hutch, $700.