Here are examples of companies that are improving their showroom business and how they're doing it.
The showroom business is very different from the wholesale operation. The wholesale side requires excellent management of assets (inventory and receivables). The showroom has very little of either one (except the plumber and builder receivables). The wholesale side is big volume/low margin. The showroom is normally just the opposite. Operating expenses run about 10 points higher in the showroom. The wholesale business requires very little merchandising, advertising, promotions, and public relations. The showroom requires a lot of all of these. The wholesale side is just that: wholesale and all that it encompasses. The showroom operation is mostly retail - and there's a big difference in how each of these businesses is run.