| |
Rancho Cucamonga,
Calif.—
Furniture delivery specialist Sun Delivery has opened a
38,000-square-foot distribution center in this city near Los Angeles,
its first such facility outside North Carolina.
The
new facility initially will service an area including California,
Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona.
"We'll provide our same premium white-glove in-home delivery, but the
transit times will be cut to less than half," said Rick Phillips,
president. "We're aiming at two weeks delivery from the manufacturer's
plant to the consumer's home in those Western states."
Phillips,
who bought the Thomasville, N.C.-based company five years
ago, said his mission has been "to create a professionally run,
customer-driven business."
He instituted bar-coded inventory control, a Web-based interface so
retailers and consumers can track their deliveries online, and trucks
equipped with GPS systems and two-way radios.
"We're open seven days a week, and customer service stays on duty until
midnight so we're available until 9 p.m. on the West Coast," Phillips
said.
All furniture is unpacked before delivery and inspected, and the
company is "at about 99% damage-free deliveries."
"It
has all paid off," Phillips said. "We're the largest in-home provider
of white-glove delivery service in this region of North Carolina and
the business has tripled since I bought it five years ago." |