[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: Hey, welcome back to the Interior Collective where we dig into the business of beautiful spaces. I'm your host Anastasia Casey and today's episode is one I'm especially excited to share. We are pulling back the curtain on a beloved Canadian based brand in the design community, Moe's Home Collection, and exploring what it really takes to evolve a 25 year old family run company into a rising force in the wholesale furniture space.
Joining me are co CEOs and siblings Sarah and Mo Jr. Semyon who have not only scaled Moe's in impressive ways, but done so with interior designers at the center of their strategy. From streamlining shipping and inventory to launching designer led products, collaborations and educational events, they've reimagined what a wholesale partner can really look like in 2025. In this conversation we talk about what designers are asking for right now, how feedback directly influences Mo's product collaborations, and why building an authentic community just as important as beautiful furniture. Whether you are a solo designer or studio with a full team, this episode offers a refreshing behind the scenes look at a company that's putting our industry first. Let's dive in.
[00:01:15] Speaker C: We are so excited to invite you to dive deeper into the Interior Collective. Podcast episodes now on Patreon unlock access to in depth analysis, helpful downloads and worksheets created with each podcast episode so subscribers gain behind the scenes access to additional resources like examples and screenshots of guest spreadsheets, construction documents, and so much more. Your subscription also gets you immediate access to our private community of interior designers and our team of industry experts ready to answer your questions. Subscribe
[email protected] the Interior Collective or linked in the show Notes Join the Interior Collective Patreon community and let's continue this conversation.
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Hello and welcome to the Interior Collective. Sarah and Mo Jr. It is such an honor to have you. I'm so glad to get to chat with you again.
We met briefly at High Point this spring and so it's really great to have the conversation continuing on with actual legitimate deep dive questions. So welcome.
[00:02:46] Speaker D: Thank you so much. Anastasia. We're both super excited to be here and yeah, great to see you again. It's, it's, we're looking forward to it.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: Yeah. How's it going?
[00:02:55] Speaker B: Hi. It's going so great. I'm super excited to chat with you guys and in particular I'm really excited to introduce our listeners. If they aren't already familiar with Mo's, get them more familiar with the brand. And even those of you who have been had the pleasure of going through your showrooms, I think understanding your brand story and the family business behind it is super powerful. And I always feel like it is easier to sell something when you know the story behind it. So let's give the people what they want and let's talk about this story. So Mose has been around for more than 25 years, but in a lot of ways it does feel like it's a brand that's like just hitting its stride. Can you take us back to those early days and share how the company first started?
[00:03:39] Speaker D: Yeah, for sure. So actually our father, Mo Senior started the company in 1986. I was out of Vancouver.
He was actually in the rug business, so bringing in rugs from India, Iran, Turkey and kind of all, all, all around the world. And you know, he really always had a passion design and products. So he, he moved slowly into furniture and he started slowly turning that rug store into a furniture store and he'd take over a portion each year. And finally in the mid-90s, it became a full on furniture store. And you know, he's like, you know what, I'm going overseas. He always went direct to the factories and he's like, I'm just gonna open a wholesale division and I'm gonna share these spines with other retailers. And he opened a wholesale division in 1999 out of California and opened a head office down there and warehouse down there. And Mo and I were kind of at the end of high school back then and we were down there with him in the summers in the warehouse unloading the first container and everything. We used to back then go to the la, I think show it was, and the Atlanta show and all of that. And so we really got in really early on. And then right after university we joined in 2004 full time. So we've, you know, been with the company now for, you know, 20 plus years full time, but really involved from the beginning. I'd say in 2010 it was that we, we actually relocated our offices to Vancouver because we Both lived in Vancouver, wanted something a little closer to home. So we've always retained our warehouse in the U.S. but our head office moved to Vancouver near us back in 2010 and we've just been growing ever since. It's really been honestly an exciting journey and a lot of our customers who've been with us through this journey, we always talk and laugh about like how far we've come. Just like our product assortment even like if you looked at us, you know, even five, 10 years ago, it's like, it's almost like a whole new company now when you see it. But yeah, it's been, it's been awesome.
[00:05:35] Speaker B: I so curious because we have had plenty of guests on the show whose spouse partner is, is in their business with them, but we've never had siblings on the show before.
And so as a brother and sister duo running such a fast scaling company, what does day to day look like for you? Before we get into like division of responsibilities, my first and foremost question is like how do you divide like family life and that sibling relationship and your work relationship?
[00:06:05] Speaker A: Well, I mean I think we, we hang out a lot outside of work as well, which is funny. Yeah, we, we both have kids that are around the same age so we, we do vacations together. We're at our parents house for dinners weekly or if not more than weekly. And sometimes we play Go.
And it seems like anytime we're, you know, we, we kind of just go back and forth in conversation between talking about something personal to talking about something business and it just kind of, it, it totally flows like that.
[00:06:35] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:06:36] Speaker B: And so it's so intertwined when you have a business like that, it just all mushes together. Especially when you have multiple generations who have been working in the business. Okay, Sarah, can you talk to me about how you all divide your responsibilities as co CEOs and what does kind of that corporate structure if you will look like at most?
[00:06:53] Speaker D: Yeah, it's kind of evolved over the years too. I would say like right now where we're at is you know, I, I take a little bit more responsibility when it comes like to visual website, hr, some marketing and kind of those aspects. And, and then maybe Mo Junior is more like finance, sales, merchandise, planning, that kind of stuff. And then we also have departments that we share, you know, operations, IT products.
So we each kind of have our individual. And then we also have some that we share.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: I would say I'm curious if you know those were huge departments, various departments to be overseeing. Do you also have like below you, do you have heads of specific departments below that? Or is it still, you know, startup level, where it's like you are literally doing HR top to bottom and doing product development top to bottom? Like, at what level are you still involved in each of those areas that you're overseeing?
[00:07:48] Speaker A: You know, each of those departments has anywhere from like a senior manager to a director, vp or, you know, we do have, for example, a chief operating officer. You know, in finance, we have a controller who reports to me. So we've. We've got some people at some good management levels or executive levels. So we're not necessarily in the everyday details. But I think one thing that both of us really enjoy doing is, is going into the details randomly in a sense, or when there's a reason to do so, is. Is really kind of like if we see an issue up here is not just stay up here, but really go down all the way to the end into the details.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: I am so curious because you've each brought something really distinct to the business.
And what would you say, and I want you to answer this for each other first and then for yourselves, but what would you say your individual strengths are and how have they helped shape Mo's trajectory into what it is today?
[00:08:45] Speaker D: Yeah, so I would say for like, Mo Junior's strengths, you know, he's very entrepreneurial. It's always like, okay, what's the next idea? Like, we haven't even, like, wrapped this other one up, but we're already onto the next, so we're really quick moving. So I'd say his entrepreneurial spirit, for sure, and, you know, not afraid to take calculated risks as well. I'd say that's. That's a big. That's a big strength. And he's got a great, like, financial mind, really good grasp of accounting. That's what he studied in university as well. So I think knowing those numbers really well, I think is always a great asset to have.
[00:09:21] Speaker B: So, Mo, what would you say your strengths are?
[00:09:23] Speaker A: I think Sarah nailed it. I. Yeah, I think. I think she. She veiled it. I wouldn't. I don't know what else I would add. I don't think I have any more strength than that.
[00:09:30] Speaker B: Those are your superpowers. Okay, and what about Sarah? What do you think that she really excels at?
[00:09:34] Speaker A: So I think Sarah, first and foremost, she's very, very good with people, very, very good with customers and building those relationships, both with customers and even internal team members. I think she really excels at that. And I think she's also very, very quick to act, which is a great skill. So when something is not wrong, it's not waiting around, it's not humming and hawing about what should we do? It's like, no, we need to move quickly, let's make this change. And Sarah is also known for being the most efficient person that there is. So she'll get something done much faster than most people.
[00:10:05] Speaker B: Oh, those are incredible superpowers. How many people do you guys have at Moe's now?
[00:10:09] Speaker D: We probably have about 150, 50 employees, I'd say at least. And then we have about 30 to 40 kind of sales reps also on the road. So about that number earlier at the.
[00:10:20] Speaker B: Top of the show you mentioned that y' all moved your headquarters back up to Canada.
And so I'm curious how it works or what was the decision to keep the warehouse in LA and then have your headquarters in Canada? And how does that kind of workflow really work out effectively for the company?
[00:10:39] Speaker A: So yeah, when, when we decided to make that move, actually 99%, almost all of our business was U.S. based business. We did very little business actually in Canada. And so when we decided to make that move, we didn't want to all of a sudden for our, our U.S. customer base to have everything ship out of Canada. We wanted to ensure, because all of our customers were there in the US that our warehouse maintained being in the US it made the cross border easier, it made the freight easier.
So it was important to us to keep the warehouse in the US So it's in the Seattle area right now and. But then like as Sarah said earlier, you know, it was important for us to, to be close to the business. So that's why we wanted to bring the office to Vancouver. And it's, you know, where we are, where we live.
[00:11:21] Speaker D: And I remember when I first joined, I moved down to San Francisco for like 18 months and I worked out of the office there, really just kind of learn everything. But you know, our home was in Vancouver and neither of us wanted to like move down there permanently. So I think also the office being here, being with everyone as our team, it's like way more collaborative and it's just, it's much better having it close to us rather than us going once a month and checking in.
[00:11:47] Speaker B: So I really want us to talk about kind of the evolution of the wholesale model because it feels like in the last 10 years, really even in the last five years, specifically the wholesale furniture model has like changed so drastically, especially when it comes to designers expectations of it. And so I'm curious how you two have navigated and helped mo's adapt to those evolving needs of designers.
[00:12:14] Speaker A: Yeah, like I remember if you go back, you know, seven, eight years ago, where a lot of companies, you know, they would not drop ship, they would not ship to residential, they would have big minimums, things like that, that just made it difficult. It's almost like saying, no, we don't want to sell it to designers without really saying it. But, you know, the policies in place, like, that's what it was, you know, the behavior, it was driving.
So, you know, for us, I think it's been a while now where we've, we've gotten easy to work with when it comes to those basics. Those are kind of the basics that we'll drop ship, we send to residential. We've got no minimums. You know, we've got a flat freight percentage even on a low value shipment. So we're doing all of those things to kind of make it easy. And I think those are some of the, the basic things. And then we've more recently done some other things that I think is helpful for designers.
[00:13:06] Speaker D: Yeah, like, so one thing is we have free swatch ordering directly on the website. Customer goes online, picks all the swatches they want, checks out, all free of charge, we send it to them. That's important. We're going to be implementing wood swatches as well. That was a big ask for us as well. And then the other big thing we're doing is right now, like, our website will show, like, oh, it's shipping now. And we'll give you an approximate timeline. But soon in Q3, like, we're going to show, no, this is the ETA to your door. Because I think one thing we hear from designers, it's like, we don't really care how long it takes you to process it, when you're going to ship it, when am I going to get it from my client? And this is my deadline that I need it by. So that's one thing that we're going to be implementing in the next couple months. And then also white glove delivery has been really important and a big ask of what we hear from designers. They want that white glove delivery option. So on our website, from now on in Q3, once you place orders, you can select that I want a white glove delivery option with a, with a small upcharge.
[00:14:03] Speaker B: Can you go in Mo? I feel like you like breezed over it and you're like, oh, those are like basic needs. I'm like, no, people are still not offering drop shipping. Like, that's still not something that people can get and they still can't get no minimum orders. Talk to us about what the difference between your drop shipping option and then what will be rolling out with your White glove option.
[00:14:22] Speaker A: So right now with dropship, so we'll do that without a, without any extra fee. And that dropship like in cart, in our website, in cart, if you go to purchase, we will do a threshold delivery. That's the standard that we have. The one thing that we don't have now is that ability to automatically select White glove and automatically know what your rate is. That is more of a manual thing that, that has to happen right now. That's kind of the, you know, the downside right now is you can't do it quite easily. So all White glove will do is now just allow you to do that within the cart right away, know what your fee is and be done with it and not have to reach out to us to, to make arrangements. So just to make it much more efficient. That'll be really the only change. But dropship and residential is something we kind of, we do right now. No, no issues.
[00:15:11] Speaker D: And then this way the designer doesn't have to bring it to their warehouse, consolidate, get another freight company to go in, deliver it and assemble it. We're just kind of saving that, that step for them and making it really easy for them.
[00:15:23] Speaker B: Yeah, saving that step for the designer, but also saving those fees for the client. Especially on a project where maybe you're not doing an entire home furnishing and they don't want to have to be paying for a receiving warehouse. I think that's super, super interesting how I think one thing that Moses really amazing at is like really listening to designers and problem solving for them. How are those conversations, like, how are you gathering this information that designers are like, this is what we need. And you guys, like you said, you guys are really quick to implement. Like you're going to figure out what the solution is and knock it out. How and where are those conversations happening for you?
[00:15:59] Speaker D: Yeah, so there's a variety of places. Like first thing is we do send out a survey to designers. Specifically. We did one, I think it was in December where we talked about, we asked about different topics, whether it was product development trends. We did another one where we actually sat with I think 20 designers. Our website team went through the website, asked them what are important features that you want to see on the website that you don't see today. Whether it's filters, whether it's more detailed dimensions and all of that information.
So those are two avenues. And then also with our sales reps, you know, every quarter we, we, we do a wrap with our sales reps. What are you hearing on the ground? Our VP of sales is really good. He's on the road basically every week in a different territory, visiting a lot of design firms and really hearing it straight from the designers of what they're wanting for their clients. And, you know, giving that feedback directly to ourselves, giving it to our product development team, our operations team. So I feel like we're really, we want to get as much information as we can to constantly be evolving and improving. We also have HQ show twice a year that we have where we host a bunch of different clients. And, you know, we do host some designers as well. And the designers come here, they meet directly with our product development team, they meet directly with our operations team and our sales team. And they're great at sharing feedback. And they're not going to hold back. You know, they're going to give us the honest truth because at the end of the day, we're partners and we want to improve and, and be a better partner for them. So we want to do whatever we can to do that.
[00:17:28] Speaker A: And just, just to add to that, like, Sarah and I also go on the road every once in a while to, to try to see customers. I mean, we see customers at shows, but even outside of that, going on the road. And, you know, a good example is the Woods Watchers. So I was in the. I was in the Bay Area, it was. And we were meeting with a design firm, and one of the feedbacks that came out of it was, you know, no one's got wood swatches, and we really need some wood swatches to show our customers sometimes, and there's no way to do it. You know, that night in the hotel room, I'm messaging with Sarah, I'm like, should we just try the wood swatches? And all of a sudden that kicked off. Okay, let's test wood swatches with our top 15, you know, wood swatches or top 15, you know, selling wooden products. So we really love feedback. We like to listen to customers as much as possible. And like we said, we're trying to be quick to implement and try things and test them out.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: So you guys have given the example of the woods watches was a big thing. You were talking about dimensions, obviously, the dropship option in 2025. What do you feel like you are hearing the most from designers when it comes to their needs, from wholesale partners?
[00:18:32] Speaker D: I think at the end of the Day being easy to work with, meeting timelines, those are really important things because designers are on tight timelines, they're on budgets with their customers and just being easy to work. And that's I think what we are putting a lot of effort and concentration on. I think making the website as self service as possible. Where they can get the detailed dimensions, they can get all the fabric information. We lots of times get lots of like very specific questions, whether it's like the rub count or the care instructions and all of that. Really having all of that information easily laid out for the designer so they can make, you know, their buying decisions quickly rather than having to reach out to a rep or you reach out to customer service. Like, what is this? What is that? One thing that we did implement as well on our website is we have live chat. During all business hours we have live chat on our website. So customers can just go on there while they're browsing and just ask the questions and they've got a customer care person on the other end responding and we try and respond within 30 seconds. So we just want to make it easy and quick for the customers. The other thing we also did is we implemented a custom markup so when they're on the website site they can actually put in what their custom markup is. Because every designer works differently. Some may pass their pricing and some may not. So we've made it so that they can actually custom markup it and send the login information to their client and they can browse the website with their customized pricing on it.
[00:19:57] Speaker A: Like fundamentally, I think the way we're trying to think about it is I think designers, you know, they, they work with wholesalers, sometimes they work with retailers.
And I think wholesalers, they traditionally there's certain things in certain service levels or certain information that they provide that's, that's great. And then, but from the retail standpoint, you know, there's a lot of things that they do that wholesalers don't do. Their standards are a lot higher. Right. And so the way we're starting to think about it is we really want to have the best of both worlds. So if you get live chat when you go to a retailer, like why do we as a wholesaler not have that? And that's why we kind of implemented that or buying swatches online. Why is it so easy when you go to a DSC furniture brand to be able to buy, you know, swatch online? But most wholesalers don't have that. So we're trying to make sure that we Kind of set our standard to the same standard that you know, any other retailer may also have.
[00:20:48] Speaker B: Where do your sales reps fit into this? Because it sounds very kind of like do it yourself level of service, which is like what designers are looking for. How can they utilize their sales rep for like an additional level of service?
[00:21:02] Speaker A: I think the sales reps have been very, very important to us to be able to introduce the brand at first, especially to the designers, but then continue with training, training and also like lunch and learns, like we, we do a lot of lunch and learns with designers and design firms and our reps will go in there and really talk about like updates and what Moses done, what are some of like the features. So one of the things, for example is Sarah's talking about a lot of features that we're adding to the website and that's one thing that sales reps will do. They'll go in and I've been in some of those meetings where we're going to visit these designers and they don't know that we've got this new addition or this new feature. They can do this and they can do that. So the designers at the, I mean, sorry, the sales reps can really get there, get in front of the designers and, and make sure that they have all the information about Moe's and how to make, you know, how we can make their life easier and be a value to them.
[00:21:54] Speaker D: And designers, different designers work differently. Some want to be really self serve and they don't necessarily need a sales rep, but there's other designers who want them. We have designers who still send their orders to the sales reps because they don't want to go online and place the orders. So we cater to a lot of different types of designers and so some of them work much closer with their sales reps and others don't. So it's really like we want to facilitate it for all, all types of designers.
[00:22:18] Speaker B: So I'm hearing so much that designers and designer collaboration is just really at the forefront of how you guys run your business. And it's clear now why that is so important. But I'm curious when we shift that to like product development. I understand from like a technology standpoint and a fulfillment and procurement side, but when it comes to actually product development and new collections, walk us through how designer feedback is really shaping what MOSE is launching.
[00:22:47] Speaker D: Yeah, so I know like some feedback we had now almost going back two years was like just larger scale. We need larger night stands especially that was like one big ask and you know the product lifecycle at Moe's takes about 12 months. You know, from ideation to, to showing it at the show. And we had a big initiative and I think we developed at least a dozen, if not more large scale nightstands really just to cater that. That ask that we had from designers, another one was like, they're looking for narrow coffee tables. That was another big ask we had. And I know this spring, summer, I think we launched two or three collect were around narrower coffee tables. You know, we are hearing a lot. It's. And it's not just us, a lot of people about washable and performance fabrics. That's been a huge ask. So we've done a ton of those now that we've launched in the last year. Launching a lot of modulars just to be more flexible in spaces. So whether someone has a larger space or they have a smaller space, doing more modular options just gives them more flexibility. So I think one thing that people will always remember Mohs for, and even it still continues today, is like, we're not afraid of color. We're not afraid of trying new materials. Like, you'll see some things at Mohs that you won't see anywhere else. We're not just trying to play it safe. And I think that's one thing that designers really have always loved about Moe's.
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Can we talk a little bit more about product design and just like how involved you guys are with that? I've gotten to meet your team and they're just amazing. But when you said that there's like a 12 month life cycle of the product development standpoint, where are you guys? Where is your creative team getting their ideas? How much are they doing the actual drawings versus tweaking a past piece and making it feel really new or changing the scale, that sort of things. What, from the creative side, Talk to us about development.
[00:25:32] Speaker D: Yeah. So I think you met Mara. She was on the panel with you in. In High Point. So Mara's our creative director, and it. It. The ideation starts with her. You know, she. She does work with us as well, gets ideas from us, but. But, you know, she's going out there, she's doing her research 24 months ahead, whether it's, you know, going to those shows in Europe or whether it's, you know, just like a lot of online research and all of that, you know, really getting that ideation together. And then we have like, almost like an art and science to the way we do product development.
We look a lot of data at data and analytics as well with our planning team. You know, these are the dining tables that are selling. This is the price point that's selling. This is the shape that's selling. You know, these are the areas that we need to go a little bit deeper in. These are the areas that, you know, we don't need to go as deep in because we have enough of a product assortment. So we look at it as far as, like, number of SKUs within categories, price bands, shapes, and all of that. And we almost develop like a shopping list, and that's handed over, you know, to our creative team and our product team. Like, this is what we need to develop, and we usually give kind of an idea of the number of SKUs and the price bands to do. And then from there, they're looking at the trends, they're looking at materials. It's really important to have good, close relationships with your factories. Like, there's some factories we've been dealing with for 20 years that have been dealing with us. And, you know, we're looking at the most upcoming materials. You know, whether it's a specific type of marble that's coming out or, you know, all of those different, you know, fabrics and all of that. And then they'll kind of present to us, you know, what, you know, you asked us to deliver whatever it is, 600 SKUs with across all these categories, you know, and here's all the ideas we have. And once they kind of get that sign off from us, we actually work with, you know, five or six designers that actually will design the pieces. They'll do all the drawings and the sketches and all of that. They'll be back and forth with us. And then that gets sent out to our sourcing team. And almost every product that we develop, we get it quoted by two to three different factories. So it's not like we just go to one factory, whoever's the easiest. We want to make sure we're getting the best, the best piece at the best price. And we're always comp shopping. We're always mindful of what's on the market, what's the price point on the market to make sure we're coming to market with a good product at a, at a fair price. Our life cycle, to be honest, is a 49 step process across all different departments. And it's, yeah, it's, it's, it's quite a lot to grasp. I haven't even memorized all the steps. But Mojr and I are involved at all of the key milestones basically in this life cycle. But, but at the end of the day, every product that's released, we've reviewed it, we've looked at it, we've looked at the pricing, we've looked at the materials and we've signed off on it.
[00:28:15] Speaker B: Mo, can you talk to me a little bit about Yalls price point at Moe's and what designers can expect from it as they begin to explore your collection? I always like to think of putting vendors into a spreadsheet and being like, okay, for this project, I know I need to be in this sheet, I need to be in this sheet. Where can designers expect, expect to be able to include your products at price points in comparison to other vendors.
[00:28:40] Speaker A: So we would be in the, we've got, we've got a range of product that go kind of from like the mid price point, maybe slightly, sometimes slightly lower than mid. But again, it depends on everyone's perspective on what they do considered mid. But I would say, you know, for the standards, somewhere in that kind of mid to mid high, we're not necessarily at the high, but we could get to the mid high. So that's the best way I could kind of explain it, but I know we'd really have to kind of compare it to other brands to kind of give a little more precise and yeah.
[00:29:11] Speaker D: When we're looking at the different categories we want to have, we usually have anywhere from three to five price bands within each category.
So we're going to have nightstands, let's say retailing at 399 and we're going to have nightstands retailing. I don't know what our highest one is. Maybe it's 1399 or something like that. So we have a pretty broad range, I would say. And then when it comes to like the look of the product. Like, you know, we have a lot of modern pieces and contemporary pieces, but we also have like a lot of transitional pieces as well. I think Moe's, maybe five, six years ago, people thought of us way more as modern and small scale, whereas now we're like a lot more transitional and large scale options as well. But we do really try and spread out so that we can really cater to any, any type of project. Like let's say a designer is doing a super high end home. Like maybe they're doing like all Italian brands or something, but they can still come to us. Whether they're doing their like guest room or they're doing like the rec room or, you know, places like that, we still have designers that'll come to us even if they're, they're doing that super high end.
[00:30:16] Speaker B: So, yeah, I think it's a really, really valuable company to have in your pocket as your value engineering project because I do find it to be incredibly versatile. When I was in the showroom, I had previously had a vision in my head that Moe's was more contemporary. And then I was going through and I was like, yes, this could have been put in a very contemporary home, but it absolutely, totally could go in my Tudor house. And so I think that when you really start to dig through piece by piece and as new collections launch, it's so much more diverse and flexible than I think a lot of vendors can be these days. I want to talk about designer collaborations. Talk us through what you've launched, what those collections have looked like and what categories are included in those.
[00:31:03] Speaker D: So when it comes to collaborations, I think it was. Yeah, last year we launched a collaboration with Gillian Siegel. She's a designer we've worked with now for about five, six years. She actually had designed some dining tables for us a few years ago, but this was the first time we did like a true collaboration. And what's great about Jillian is because we've known her for many years and she lives here local in Vancouver. She does a lot of projects in like LA and New York and Montreal, but she is a local Vancouver designer. So that was great to support somebody in our community and also have somebody nearby. So we were able to have lots of in person meetings and you know, usually Collaborations take about 18 months for us. So if our normal life cycle is 12 months, collaborations are 18 months. I think we really sped through it and because we really wanted to get it going, we did it probably in about 15 months. Yeah. And it just, we, you know, we, I think we did about 25 SKUs kind of across dining and. And living, and it was. It was great. You know, she brought a perspective of.
As a designer, I'm here shopping for my clients, and these are the items I really have a tough time sourcing. And, you know, at. At a good price point, too. You know, she could go and get them all custom made, but she didn't want to pay, you know, $15,000 for a sofa. You know, here's a sofa that we're looking for that has pleats, but I also want it to be like, you know, a performance fabric, you know, so really trying to cater to needs that designers have that they have a tough time sourcing. That was really what was behind this collab. And I think. And it's been quite successful. You know, it's been nine months now since launch, and we really had a great. And it wasn't just designers, you know, even a lot of, like, national accounts and brick and mortar stores picked up the line. So it was. It was really good. There was one, like, you know, she really wanted, like, a turned leg detail in the furniture, and that's, like, really hard to get. And I think the. The Trekchya collection is what we. We developed. And I think each leg takes, like, like, three hours to make, so it was pretty complex. But it's a beautiful piece, and I. I'm glad we really put the effort to develop it, because people were blown away by it. So it was really great.
[00:33:10] Speaker B: I. I know the sofa you're talking about with the pleats and the performance linen. I was. I sat on it at High Point, and it was gorgeous. I. I really want to dig into this a little bit more, because when I hear from designers kind of like, their career wish list, like, a product collab is often at the top of it.
What. I have so many Canadian designers listening right now, and we don't usually get to talk to as many Canadian brands. Obviously, it made so much sense when she was based out of Vancouver. What kind of designers are you hoping to collaborate with? Do you prefer that they are local? Like, is that a prerequisite? And are there certain, like, voices or perspectives that you're wanting to spotlight more at Moe's?
[00:33:51] Speaker D: Yeah, I think for our first collaboration, having somebody local was great because it was a learning curve for both of us as well. But I think, you know, moving forward, we're open to a designer really anywhere, I think. No, anywhere that the designer's base for sure. We want them to come to Vancouver for, you know, a couple of meetings. But they could really be based anywhere. I think for us, it's just important that the collaborator has, like, kind of a similar. Like a similar vibe and aesthetic to. To where we're heading. So I think that's, like, the most important is just to find somebody kind of on that. That same wavelength as us and the direction that we're going and what's the.
[00:34:25] Speaker B: Creative process in that situation. Like, I know with Mara, you are like, hey, these are the categories and the number of skus we're looking for. Do you provide your collaboration designer something similar? Or like you said, Did.
Did Jillian come to you and say, these are what I'm looking for specifically, this is my own data and this is what the collection is going to be based around?
[00:34:48] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a little bit more. The latter. It's a little bit more collaborative so that we. We know exactly, like, where they want to develop. Like, is it, you know, is it dining? Is it living? Is it upholstery? So we definitely take their feedback, we listen to them, and then we look at our data and what our needs are and what our gaps are. But for sure, it's. It's collaborative, and we really want to know from them, like, where they want to develop, where they see the gaps, where they think. Like, you know, they. They have the ideas and, you know, because they're going to have the ideas in their head of what they want to design and the product that they think is missing. And we don't want to tamper with that too much. We want it to be authentic.
[00:35:22] Speaker B: This is such a unique opportunity to get to ask the brand side of it. So I'm just curious, are your designers handing over sketches? And they're like, this is what I'm thinking. Are they working with the design team to actually get as far as rendering the product, or is it more conceptual? And like you said, I want a linen sofa that's gonna have the pleats, but it needs to be at this price point. What's, like, your ideal situation? Just so those who are listening can put their best foot forward. If opportunity like this was to present.
[00:35:52] Speaker A: Itself, I was going to say I. I think handicapping. We were both seeing who was going to jump in. So I think, you know, handing over the sketches, I think is. Is. Is ideal. It's great. And then. And then being open to kind of making small adjustments where needed. So we do want to get those initial sketches. Here's what I'm looking. You know, we're looking to develop. This is the design. Here's the sketch and then working with our team and working with our factory partners to kind of figure out how we're going to make this. And, you know, do we need to potentially make a little change here in order to make this viable or something like that? So, but. But the sketches is very helpful. That's kind of what we would like.
[00:36:29] Speaker D: Yeah. And we don't necessarily need like, CAD drawings and stuff like that. Like, we have all those resources available, so they don't need to do that, but they just need to give like a really good base concept. And then the materials, like, they're always going to want the highest material that maybe is like the most expensive material. And then you just got to kind of bring it down a little bit. Okay, well, what, what's actually feasible and stuff like that. So there's a little bit of like, push and pull and it's healthy and it's good. So at the end of the day though, we want the product selection to be something that the designer is proud of. They stand behind it. So anytime, like any sample is released, we. We get the, we get the sign off from the designer as well.
[00:37:06] Speaker B: I love that. So Mose has done a really amazing job of fostering designer engagement and community outside of the showroom floor. Obviously, when you're at a high point, it's like all warm and fuzzies. Everybody's all excited and they get to meet each other, but you guys are really working on things from webinars to trend reports and of course, trade show events. Why are you investing so heavily in community education outside of those more obvious avenues of High Point Market Week?
[00:37:36] Speaker A: Well, I mean, the designer segment is a segment that's been growing for us. It's a segment that is on our mind. It's always a segment that we're always thinking about as we kind of sit around the table and make decisions. We're always thinking about out the designer in that segment. And so obviously, you know, to partner with them. Well, like, we need to bring them value. One way to bring them value is through our product and our service that we, that we offer. And we think we do that well. But, you know, if we can bring value in other ways through these webinars, if we can take in their feedback and make sure that we bring in product to market that they feel like is a gap and is a void. So that's really it. I think we just want to partner with them and we want to bring as much value as we can to them as well.
[00:38:19] Speaker B: How do you decide what kind of Educational programming or resources are going to be most useful to your designer audience. Because I feel like I've been in showrooms before and the showroom is putting on a certain type of event and it's not actually like the in depth information that someone's looking to get. So how are you guys really crafting that narrative? Carefully.
[00:38:46] Speaker D: Yeah, so I think some feedback. Like the first panel we did was last October with Jillian and actually she, she kind of really wanted to talk about this topic. And we did the panel with three or four other designers and this was a topic they all felt passionate about and they felt like designers want to hear about it. And it was like, really how to run your business? We're not talking about trends, we're not talking about what's upcoming, but like, let's get into the nitty gritty. Like, this is what accounting looks like, this is what HR looks like, and these are all the things that come with running a business that nobody talks about. And that's kind of what we, we talked about. And we got such a great response to that that we kind of continued that. And in March here in Vancouver, we had probably about like 80 or 90 designers come out to our showroom and we had another panel with like a jewelry designer and Jillian and a few other designers really going more in depth and talking about that same topic. And we just had such a great feedback on it. So that's really, you know, we tried one thing and it, it was so successful, people wanted to hear more and that's why we just kept continuing doing panels with that specific topic and, and evolving it. So I'd say it's, it's just all about feedback. You know, we, we ask for the truth. Like, how was that for you? Was there anything you want to hear more of? Anything you want to hear less of? And we're just building off of that.
[00:40:03] Speaker B: I often hear that there are so many fewer options for designers to sort of source from in Canada and that sourcing American brands is just getting more and more expensive, obviously with current tariffs and everything.
So how can Moe's help with that? I know that you guys are actually your warehouses in Seattle, so I'm curious if how this can be leveraged both for American designers, but also for Canadian designers.
[00:40:28] Speaker A: So yeah, our, our main warehouse is in Seattle, but we are a, we have both a Canadian company and a US Company. So the, the value that we can bring for Canadian customers is we actually bring the product from the US Into Canada. So, so we import it, we pay all the taxes. And the duties and all that. And we sell it to our customers in Canada in Canadian dollars from Canada with a flat, you know, reasonable freight percentage. So I think that's one of the values that we can bring. It's like you're buying, it is you're buying from Canada, a Canadian company, Canadian dollar from Canada. And I know if they, you know, are working with a US company that doesn't have that offering that, yeah, like you said, it can get expensive. You know, you're doing the cross border, you're doing the customs, and some designers are not set up to do that. It can get more difficult. You're also buying in US dollars. So then you, you know, you got to deal with the foreign exchange and, and all that. You may not have a US bank account if you're Canadian designer.
So these are, I think some of the little things that, that we can make easier for Canadian customers.
[00:41:32] Speaker B: That is really, really great to hear. I know my Good friend Paris McKenna, she's over in Toronto. But when all of this first erupted, she put out a call on her socials to be like, put together a list of who we can be sourcing in Canada. And I know that Mose was at the top of that list. But I think that that's really important information for people to understand. Also for us in America to not be off put by the fact that, that you are based in Vancouver because you do have the company in both locations. So we often hear that designers are working solo. There's tons of designers who are a one person operation and are killing it or they're in smaller teams and they can feel overlooked by large vendors. Mo, you had mentioned, you know, there's like really large opening orders at places or the pricing tiers don't even benefit you until you can spend a hundred billion dollars with them. How are you ensuring that even your smallest clients are feeling like VIPs?
[00:42:27] Speaker A: Yeah. So, you know, for us, I think the way, the way we look at it is by going after the designer market, you're kind of making a decision to work with a large breadth of customers that are kind of maybe lower value, not lower value, but lower total business for each customer. So we're not, you know, the flip side is going after, you know, 50 accounts which all do a huge amount of volume. Right.
And we're kind of going after this breadth of customers which just inherently means it's, it's almost like we're running a retail business like where every customer is just important. It doesn't matter if you're buying one item if you're buying a hundred items, because there's so many customers who are just buying smaller dollar values. And so, you know, for us, they're. They're all important. It's every designer, whether it's, you know, 5,000 a year or 10,000 a year, whatever it is, like, it's. It's important. And their feedback and their opinion is important.
[00:43:21] Speaker D: And. And just because, like, we sell to a lot of designers that it's just like one person running the show. But even that one designer can do a lot of business. That one Designer can do $50,000 a year with you. So that's really important to count. And there could be design firms that have 30 people, and they're only doing 10,000 a year for you. So for us, it's not really about the. The scale of the design firm. It's about their potential with Mo.
[00:43:45] Speaker B: Got it. Can we talk a little bit about that? And you guys can totally say no, But I'm curious as to kind of what your different trade pricing structures look like for a designer when they're coming into Moe's. I mean, just the fact that there's not an opening order is huge. But what can someone expect if they are able to, you know, they have three projects coming up, and they're able to source a really great amount from MOE's for those three projects. What kind of benefits would they see?
[00:44:11] Speaker A: We do do tiered pricing, and so as they do do volume with us in terms of total dollars or. Or that potential, or they have those projects, then we will then start to kind of tear down the pricing and. And provide some price breaks. And normally the way we do it, it's not case by case. It's more like you get onto that price list because you've. You can do that volume, and then you're doing that volume kind of consistently year in and year out, and then it doesn't matter if. If one day you just have a single item that needs to ship out for a thousand bucks or if it's a big order, but we keep you on the same price level regardless.
[00:44:45] Speaker B: Got it. Thank you so much. Do you have any tips, kind of in that same vein, for designers looking to build stronger vendor relationships, whether it's with Mo's or other wholesale partners, how do you start to become more known by the brand for a few different reasons, whether it is to get to better pricing tiers or it is to potentially talk about a collaboration in the future.
How do you start to, like, kind of get your name familiar with a vendor like Mo's.
[00:45:13] Speaker D: So one, one like thing I would say is for designers to try and not buy from like 50 different companies. And I would really narrow down the, the vendor scope because then you become more important to each of your vendors. If you're just buying one piece here, one piece there, and then let's say you have an issue with that vendor and all of that, I feel like, like narrowing down your scope of vendors is. It would be my advice. You know, I used to run a retail store, you know, 15 years ago, right. And obviously we carried a lot of Mo's, but I also carried other vendors. And I just found myself when it got to too many vendors, it's just more to manage on the back end and everything. So I would say narrow down the scope. Find vendors that have an assortment of product that can cater to the different projects you're doing and have, have, you know, that, that breadth of price point as well. And then you're, you're more important to, to less vendors, I guess.
[00:46:10] Speaker A: And then like, you know, I think the other thing is, you know, there's still some vendors probably out there that, you know, do not necessarily make it super easy to work with for designers. And so, you know, go after the vendors who, who really value that designer business, want that designer business and, and want to work with you. Because I think there's probably some vendors who just don't. Not that they don't want you, but they, you know, too have to do what they're good at and they have to concentrate on something. They have to strategize. And some people strategize to go after brick and mortar retailers or, or only online businesses and things like that. So I think it's just important to partner with someone who, who is looking to service that customer segment.
[00:46:45] Speaker B: Where do you think is the best place for designers to start to get those introductions and to figure out which, which vendors are willing to work with designers? Do you feel like it has to be at market, like that's the place to go? Do you think that this information could online if you do your research?
[00:47:02] Speaker D: I mean, I haven't looked personally, but I would say like, you know, yeah, the trade shows are a good opportunity to, to see vendors and stuff like that. But I think online you can, you can probably like, you know, just go online. Even if you see ihfc, it lists all the exhibitors and it has links to all their websites. I would just kind of do it like that and just kind of preview what's available. And then you can also, I think, curate to types of categories you're looking for and all of that. That's the way I would do it. And then I would just kind of. It takes to set up an account with that vendor. Like, how easy is it to set up an account? Are they asking me for all these things that maybe I don't even have that. And that'll kind of give you an initiative, like a kind of a, you know, idea of that. And then if they have sales reps, I do think, like, sales reps, lots of times sales reps have different lines. Right. So if you're. If you have a really good relationship with a sales rep, it's like asking their advice too. Like, hey, I'm really looking for this type of furniture. Are you familiar with any brands that you could recommend to me? So I think think, you know, utilizing that sales rep as well is. Is helpful in those situations. I. I know I used to do that. Like, if it was a sales rep that I trust, I had a good relationship. Like, hey, I'm really looking for, like, a fake plant line. Like, who do you recommend? Who. Who. Who are some of your other customers using that they've had good, you know, relationships with? So I think word of mouth is very important too.
[00:48:18] Speaker A: And then just kind of looking into, I guess, as you do look at a company, you know, what other. What are their policies and terms and conditions? And then you get a good feel, like, is this someone who really trying to cater to. To. To our business or not? You know, oh, we don't do residential delivery. Okay, well, maybe that's not. Yeah, you know, I'm looking to do.
[00:48:35] Speaker B: Designer or how they handle damages and what their damage rate is, et cetera. That is brilliant, guys. Thank you so much. What does the onboarding process look like for a designer who wants to start working with Mohs and more specifically, because I feel like that's probably pretty straightforward. But please walk us through it. Is there anything you wish more designers knew about it before getting started?
[00:48:55] Speaker D: Like, it is really easy for us. Like, it's really online. It takes one day to get approved, and then you get immediate access to the website, and everything really is at your fingertips. I. I do think maybe some designers don't know how easy it is for us to get set up. We're not asking for, like, a ton of information. We're not asking for your birth certificate or something like that. Like, literally just like, a tax ID to make sure, like, you're actually a business and a RISA ID Just to you know, make sure of all of that. And I think we, we actually asked for the social media handle as well just to, you know, we always like to check out the vibe and all of that. But it, it's, it's super easy to get set up with us.
[00:49:33] Speaker B: I, I totally agree. I am always between design camp and just who I talk to on the show. I'm, I'm really shocked sometimes how many people still opt for shopping retail. And I think that the biggest, the biggest hurdle people come up against who haven't made that jump to going to wholesale accounts is they are by the receiving warehouse and storage fees. And just the fact that Moe's has eliminated that as an option I think is pretty extraordinary because typically what I've found is like art and rugs can be drop shipped, lighting can be drop shipped, but furniture, you are not hearing that very often. So I think that that's a huge, huge, unique selling point. And I really hope if there's someone who's listening who has not dipped their toes into wholesale yet, like you're just leaving so much money on the table. You're leaving so much money on the T and you are limiting your options for your clients. And I really encourage you. Like this seems like the easiest win to just sign up with Mo's and then you can start. It's like a great way to dip your toe into it and then to start looking into other vendors once you kind of gotten the hang of it. We've talked a lot about exciting updates happening in Q3 for MO's. Talk to me about like the next one to three years and I know everything happens so fast with you guys that might feel like a lifetime away.
Are there any big bets or ideas that you're are especially excited about?
[00:50:54] Speaker D: Yeah, I'd say we're continually investing in our website. That is like a really important platform. And just general. We have a CTO who, who leads our IT department, but we really just want to make like the shopping experience like easy and seamless for our designers and really all of our customers. Product development is always going to be like a focus for us. That is like what distinguishes us from other wholesalers out there. So. So that's always gonna be important to us. But I'd say one bigger bet we're also making is what I spoke about earlier is our HQ show which we host twice a year where we bring clients from all across US and Canada to Vancouver. It kind of started actually during COVID for Canadian customers. Cause they couldn't travel to the US So they couldn't go to the High Point show. And we're like, you know what, we have a 50,000 square foot showroom here in Vancouver. Like why don't you just come see us here?
And it was really great to see and it's just kind of evolved from there. And we've actually now like rented out a hotel in downtown Vancouver in Yaletown, like a boutique hotel. And we're hosting all of our customers there. We have some great events, we have breakfast, we do panels, and then we do like a big party. And they really get that like one on one time with their sales rep, our product team, our operations team. Cause we're all here in the building, so, so it's honestly a great opportunity. So we've, we're investing a lot more into that as well.
[00:52:18] Speaker A: And at first, I mean we really just had retailers come at the beginning and now, yeah, you know, over the last one or two markets we've started to have designers come and we want more and more designers to come and see the product.
[00:52:29] Speaker B: Well, that sounds so fun and amazing because High Point is so overwhelming.
So it's perfect. Like let's just focus on one brand and really get to know it. It just makes it easier for us, us to sell the product to our clients and just feels better. Like I said at the very beginning of the show, just understanding the story. Speaking of, as a family run business that's now operating at such a massive scale, what values have you two and your dad really worked hardest to protect along the way?
[00:52:58] Speaker A: So I think a couple of them, like I think one is like being entrepreneurial, being very agile. Like that's been something that we've always, always grown up in the business valuing and it's something that we really push for all of our team members to do so. And then also just I think working with integrity is important to us. You know, really just doing what's right when no one is looking. That's super important to us and something that we want to keep as a, as a pillar of the business.
[00:53:23] Speaker B: If you could share one message directly to those listening, like this is your elevator sales pitch. Let's hear it. What would you want them to know?
[00:53:31] Speaker A: So one of the things I would say is, you know, this is what we hear a lot as people kind of come into the showroom a of lot last, you know, six to nine or 12 months or even, you know, on the road, seeing our lookbook, you know, the common, common theme that we hear many, many times from people who haven't seen us in a few years is wow, I can't believe it. I didn't know this is what Moses. Now I remember Mo's from, you know, whatever it was. Some of them 10 years ago, some of them three years ago. Right. And so I think a lot of people are really wowed by the fact that of how we've changed and how we've evolved and become more relevant for them. And so I think that's, that's what we would say is probably, you know, make sure to check us out. If you haven't seen us in a few years, check us out whether it's on the website, but try to get into the showroom in High Point or whether it's hq. I think that that's the key message, I would say.
[00:54:21] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:54:22] Speaker B: And then before we wrap up, can you tell us about any exciting projects or collaborations in particular you have coming up soon or what we could see at market this fall?
[00:54:32] Speaker D: Yeah. So we're actually completely renovating our High Point showroom. So it's going to be a brand new showroom when you walk in. Yeah, in October. So we're super excited, super excited about that. I think we mentioned the HQ event that we're doing, you know, in September, which we're, which we're really excited about.
[00:54:48] Speaker A: And then in terms of product collaborations, that's not coming for the next High Point, but coming in the near future. Yeah.
[00:54:54] Speaker B: Oh, exciting. Well, guys, this was so informative and really inspiring. I just love to support, support family owned businesses as much as possible. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to help share your story with those listening and I can't wait to go see the new showroom at High Point.
[00:55:11] Speaker D: Yeah, and thank you so much for having us. This was really exciting opportunity for us and it was great to see you again too. Thank you again.
[00:55:18] Speaker B: Okay, I'll talk to you guys soon.
[00:55:24] Speaker C: For more in depth analysis analysis of this interview including exclusive downloads, examples and more. Don't forget to subscribe to the Interior Collective on Patreon. We are building an amazing private community of interior designers and industry experts open to candid conversations and answering questions. Join us on Patreon in the show notes or at patreon.com forward/the interior collective. Thank you so so much for tuning in to this episode. Producing this show has, has truly been the honor of my career and I cannot believe I get to have these conversations.
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