The Brick Ltd. started its story as The Brick Warehouse LP in Edmonton, Alta., in 1971, eventually growing into the national retailer of furniture, mattresses, appliances and home electronics that it is today.
With a reputation for having large retail spaces in urban centres, Lance Jacobson didn’t expect that it was even an option to open up a Brick franchise in Swan River, which has had its footprint and iconic Vermillion Red logo in Swan River for 10 years now.
Jacobson was the manager of the Sears store that existed in the same location at 619 Main Street East, before it abruptly closed amongst the company-wide shuttering of retail locations across the country in the last decade leading up to the company’s bankruptcy.
“With Sears, of course it was a whole different business that focused more on catalog sales,” he said. “We had a mix of major appliances, some beds and some lawn and garden. It really was limited to what we could have and sell inside that store.”
When the local Sears store closed, Jacobson asked around amongst his Sears colleagues and he discovered that the manager in Humboldt had opened up a Brick franchise instead.
“I called up my friend in Humboldt and he said that if we don’t have a Sears anymore, that I’d be interested in this,” said Jacobson.
“It’s completely night and day as far as operations go. In the Sears stores, you didn’t own them and were more of a dealer. You didn’t have much flexibility or opportunity to grow. Here (at The Brick), you own it and it opened up a lot of different avenues for us to explore and to grow.
“When we went through the process of applying for a franchise, back in those days it was a little simpler than it is today,” Jacobson continued. “We were very lucky and we had a chance to meet with the Senior Vice President. He came here twice to Swan River: once when he assessed the building and who we were, and then he came for the grand opening as well.”
The Brick operates both corporate-owned and franchised locations. The Brick in Swan River represents one of about 20 franchise locations out of the more than 200 retail stores that The Brick operates across Canada.
Jacobson sees owning a Brick franchise as a natural progression in his career.
“Before managing the Sears dealer store with Neil Scales for almost 13 years, I worked at the Co-op furniture department for 13 years,” he said.
“Those early days working at the Co-op were the learning days – learning about the business, product and customers. Then the Sears days were about learning a management role and building a customer base. And, now owning The Brick is about being franchise owners.
“Of course, we’re not just franchise owners,” Jacobson continued. “We do the accounting, sell merchandise and take care of the customer from start to finish. We even do most of the deliveries.”
Jacobson added that he enjoys doing many of those jobs from start to finish because he is invested in making sure the customer experience goes the way it should, or can make things right when something doesn’t go the way it should.
“In smaller towns, we focus more on customer service because everybody knows you,” said Jacobson, who is a business owner with even more local visibility due to his role as an elected figure in Swan River. “If people have issues, you deal with them the best that you possibly can.”
The furniture and home furnishings industry has also gone through some major changes, not just in the time since Jacobson started selling furniture at the Swan Valley Consumers Co-op in 1988, but also even just in the last few years.
“When I started, everything was pretty much manual as far as inventory systems and POS and payment,” he said. “Eventually, Internet was a big part of everyone’s life and way to communicate.
“In time, Internet expanded, companies had websites and then had the option to buy online and so much more. This definitely has had the largest impact of consumer shopping and spending today.”
In Jacobson’s early retail days, cheque and cash was the norm, whereas today, most transactions are done through debit, credit or even e-transfer. And, through using the in-store Flexiti credit card, so many purchases can be financed now as well.
“Now, we pretty much can’t do business without Internet, including POS and inventory control,” he said.
“But no matter how one will shop, online or in person in our store, we continue to make our personal connection and the experience the best it can be.”
One other thing that has changed in just the last few years is where product is manufactured. Jacobson said that much of the industry had shifted towards imported products from overseas versus the domestic manufacturing the way it used to be more than 30 years ago.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic exposed how vulnerable the supply chain is with the shutdown of foreign manufacturing and logistics, which made companies realize that a shift towards more domestic products might be a good move, which also resulted in more expensive price tags as cost of inputs and labour went up.
While Jacobson said he’s not the kind of guy to often toot his own horn, he did share some praise and positive comments that he has received during the last 10 years a Brick franchisee.
“In the first few years, we had people in Flin Flon who would stop our truck and ask if there was a Brick store in Swan River,” said Jacobson, adding that people were very excited to stop by.
Jacobson has also received compliments and praise from other people from The Brick family in other locations.
“Overall, I appreciate the customers that support us,” said Jacobson. “We have a lot of different partners that we’ve grown a lot of different relationships with and we appreciate every single one of them. And, we also value the employees that we have.”
Jacobson has run The Brick with his wife, Coralie, for the entire 10 years, and one of his employees, Ashley Eggie, has also worked alongside the two of them for the entire 10 years, as well as the other valued employees and friendly faces that people interact with at The Brick, whether it’s people on the sales floor or people helping deliver purchases.
“I appreciate all the people that support us and I welcome those that have not yet walked in our door,” Jacobson concluded. “We will treat you as good as we possibly can with the best prices that we can.”