Switching to a New Payments System Helped This Small Furniture Store Boost Sales Now they can compete.

Outdoor furniture isn't cheap, and that means big furniture stores have a major advantage over little ones: They're able to provide no-down-payment financing on sets that can run into several thousands of dollars. Laura and John Merlein, co-owners of Laura's Home & Patio, in East Northport, N.Y., couldn't afford to offer something like that -- and as a result, they appeared to be losing customers to the large stores nearby, especially on big-ticket items. "We had a number of customers asking us if we did any kind of financing," Laura says.

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The fix