Furniture family

Couple expands company to its hometown

Dynamic is the word Jed Heggen first chooses to describe Ashley Furniture Industries. It's a word that also aptly describes Heggen and his wife, Jennifer.

In the past six years, the Flathead Valley natives founded Sleep City USA and have grown that company to five stores, including one in Kalispell that opened in 2000. They also started Ashley Furniture HomeStores in Missoula, Bozeman and Helena, and opened their fourth Ashley store in Evergreen last week.

Next year, the couple will open an Ashley Furniture HomeStore and Sleep City USA in Great Falls.

"We have expansion plans beyond Montana," Jed Heggen said. "But we have a few more markets in state to tap first."

The new Ashley store, at 105 Bando Lane across the street from Cardinal True Value on U.S. 2, offers 33,000 square feet of show space. Sleep City USA, currently at 2165 U.S. 2 E., will move to a 7,000-square-foot space adjacent to the Ashley HomeStore by the end of the year.

"When we put the businesses near one another, we're able to share some of the operations," he said. "We create our own economy of scale."

HEADQUARTERED IN Arcadia, Wis., and founded in 1945, Ashley Furniture Industries is the largest home-furniture manufacturing company in the United States.

As a furniture manufacturer, Ashley has developed a worldwide clientele for its products.

Over the past eight years, company innovations have allowed Ashley Furniture HomeStores to become the nation's fastest-growing furniture retailer; those stores are operated by independent licensees such as the Heggens.

Ashley Furniture prides itself on innovative marketing concepts, quality products and cutting-edge manufacturing methods. The Heggens have experienced that philosophy firsthand.

"They're dynamic. They're always changing to improve efficiency," Jed Heggen said, adding that the price for some products has actually been reduced over several consecutive years.

There's an economy of scale in buying from just one manufacturer, he noted.

Buying in large quantities provides discounts and eliminates the need for warehouse space. The end result is savings that are passed on to the customers.

"The reality is we buy directly and everything we have is on the showroom floor," Jennifer Heggen said. "We electronic-order every day, with a 10-day to two-week turnaround. The benefit of not having to warehouse is we don't have to pay interest on inventory, so it's efficient and cost-effective to operate this way."

She does most of the accessory buying for the Ashley HomeStores. The stores offer rugs, artwork, bedding and other home accessories that come from about 60 different vendors.

THE HEGGENS, both 1987 Flathead High School graduates, aren't strangers to the furniture business by any means. Jed Heggen's father, Jerry Heggen, owned and operated Northwest Furniture in Kalispell and is now a sales consultant at the new Ashley HomeStore in Kalispell. Jed worked at the store when he was growing up. Jennifer also worked part time at Northwest Furniture for a time.

After Jed Heggen got a degree in economics from Yale University and Jennifer completed her degree in organizational communications from the University of Montana, the couple married in 1991 and moved to Missoula in 1993 so Jed could begin law school at UM. The same year they opened Taylor's Furniture Warehouse in Missoula. It was named after their oldest daughter, who was born in September of that year.

Seven years later, they closed their furniture warehouse, sold the inventory and the real estate, and opened an Ashley Furniture HomeStore next to Southgate Mall in Missoula.

They opened their first Sleep City USA store in Missoula in January 1999. By offering a full-line sleep shop staffed by mattress experts with specialized training, the Heggens found a retail niche that quickly expanded to five stores - two in Missoula and other stores in Bozeman, Helena and Kalispell.

"People are investing in their sleep," Jennifer Heggen said, "and they're realizing they need to invest more in their beds."

The Heggens' Ashley HomeStores also offer mattresses.

The couple divide the duties of their growing businesses. Jed handles new business development while Jennifer focuses on marketing and advertising. In addition to overseeing their growing furniture and mattress businesses, Jed has a law practice in Missoula and they have three children: Taylor, 12, Slade, 10, and Lauren, 4.

One of the keys to their success is simply hiring good people to manage their numerous stores.

The Heggens employ about 100 people.

"We invest heavily in communities," Jed Heggen said. "We believe in the growth potential in Montana."

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com