NEW ORLEANS – Scott McKearn, owner of Banana Manor, a large rug factory outlet in New Orleans, has completed relocating his business to a new, single-level, 10,000-square-foot space at 3015 Tchoupitoulas Street, retaining the store’s playful atmosphere, including a stock tank swimming pool.
Banana Manor has a wide range of rugs, specializing in Oushaks, and benefits from a vertically integrated partnership with a third generation weaving facility. A vertically integrated partnership is one in which two (or more) businesses work closely together across multiple steps of the supply chain instead of each company only handling one separate piece.
“That allows us to offer better pricing than our competition, and we can produce custom rugs made to order in nearly any size, shape or color combination. Endless options, at a price point that’s not much more than off-the-rack,” said McKearn.
Looking ahead, McKearn has ambitious goals for the business. “One objective is for our New Orleans store to be known as the biggest and best rug store throughout the South. We also want to be the go-to resource for rugs for interior designers in this region,” he said.
“Beyond that, we market to interior designers and online end users nationally, specifically within the niche of a certain type of rug that is our specialty – Oushaks. These hand-knotted rugs originated in the town of Uşak, Turkey, and are known for their intricate designs, vibrant colors, and soft, luxurious pile. Our goal is to offer a bigger and better selection of colorful and whitewashed Oushaks at better prices than anyone in the U.S.”
Banana Manor Marketing Style
As the store approaches its fifth anniversary, Scott McKearn is focused on innovative marketing to boost Banana Manor’s profile among both local shoppers and national audiences, particularly interior designers and wholesale clients. “We market the business via multiple channels. It’s about smart strategy, not broad strokes,” said McKearn.
One of his most consistent tactics is maintaining a prominent billboard presence close to the store. “Near the store, I have a billboard on Magazine Street all of the time, changing the seasonal theme throughout the year. The Magazine Street board helps me stay top of mind for local customers and tourists. If someone sees it and wants to come to the store on the spur of the moment, we’re just a couple of minutes away.”
To complement this, McKearn experiments with shorter bursts of digital outdoor ads for maximum impact during key times. “I’ve started supplementing that with short-term digital board campaigns during high-traffic events and holidays. A four-day blitz of an attention-getting billboard is a cost-effective way of getting our name out there, without spending a fortune having multiple boards up around the city all of the time,” he said.
He is equally strategic about digital marketing, using data-driven methods to ensure ads reach the right audience.
“With Meta’s targeting tools, I can focus my message where it matters most. I’m not shouting into the crowd—I’m speaking directly to the people who need to hear it,” said McKearn. “For example, I visualize a specific customer persona and think through the magazines and shows they likely enjoy. I include those as the interest for that group when setting up my ads on Instagram and Facebook. I can also define the geographic area and target cities beyond New Orleans. We have people come in frequently from out of town saying they made a special trip to New Orleans to come to Banana Manor because they found us on Instagram or Facebook. People walk in all the time and tell me they follow us on Instagram—completely unprompted. Then they make high-ticket purchases. That’s the power of building the right presence online.”
This digital presence has become a vital channel for reaching the store’s trade clients as well. “We also offer interior designers and home stores wholesale options. Instagram has turned out to be an incredibly powerful way to reach and win over these exact audiences,” said McKearn.
McKearn also finds creative ways to link his offline and online promotions. “I have used the billboard artwork as an ad on social media, where I placed a miniature keepsake version from the billboard company on a beautiful rug,” he said. “I had that image as the lead and several other branding images that told the story. It was incredibly effective to drive traffic to the store and our website.”
About Banana Manor
“For the past 25 years I have been cutting out the middle-man markup as the leading direct import home furnishings retailer in Louisiana, providing shake your head in disbelief, EXTREME VALUE. This joint venture with an Indian Rug Factory is something I started to develop around 18 years ago with my Business Manager in India.
Tanveer grew up in Bhadohi, India, the Rug Capital of the World and owns & operates a Rug Weaving Facility there. He has lived and breathed this product since childhood as a 3rd Generation Rug Manufacturer. He has pushed me since Day 1 to partner with him. The explosion in e-commerce of home furnishings, due to Covid, was the catalyst that made it finally happen.
He produces the goods offered by Banana Manor, that we together sell direct to the consumer online and through our 10,000 ft² Rug Factory Outlet in Uptown New Orleans.”
