Color may give Stanley an edge
Coastal Living line offers 14 finish options
Tom Russell -- Furniture Today, December 1, 2008
STANLEYTOWN, Va. — On a bright, warm morning here in early November, workers at Stanley Furniture's 1.2 million-square-foot plant begin the day like most others. They set to work on assembling, distressing and sanding case pieces on the production line.As case pieces in the company's new Coastal Living line of bedroom, dining room and occasional furniture come off the line, some spray booth areas were unusually quiet. But they wouldn't be for long.
 Steve Bullock, Stanley’s senior vice president of operations, shows a group of Coastal Living accent tables ready to be finished in a variety of different colors. |
The spray booths were set to surge to life use the next week as the company began a shift in its manufacturing mindset that could determine its success as one of the largest U.S. domestic case goods producers.
In the past, whitewood pieces would get one or two different finishes shortly after they came off the line. With Coastal Living, 14 finishes are available, and won't be applied until a retailer places an order for that specific color.
"When we get an order today, we are not looking backwards, we are looking forward," said Steve Bullock, the company's senior vice president of operations, who came to Stanley in February from Herman Miller subsidiary Geiger International.
With names like Sand Dollar, Morning Sky, Lemon Twist, Conch, Sea Grass and Sea Mist, the colors reflect the mood and lifestyle of coastal environments. Along with pastel and sea glass tones, the collection also has several Americana-themed hues, including Navy, Shell and Beach Cruiser Red.
Stanley chose the colors with advice from the editorial staff at Coastal Living magazine, from which the 80-piece licensed collection gets its name.
Some imported pieces such as accent tables and chairs lined up on the factory floor already had a base coat. From there they were to receive a finish based on customer specifications.
With the exception of beds and chairs made with woven fibers, the rest of the bedroom and dining pieces are made in Stanleytown. The plant has handled multiple finishes on collections such as Hudson Street and Portofino. But these each only have two finish options, compared to the 14 in Coastal Living.
The array of finish options is possible thanks to a nearly $1 million investment Stanley made this year in a manifold spray finishing system, which feeds the finishes from large paint cans connected to 14 tubes leading to spray booths.
Spray booth operators can connect their spray apparatus to whichever line they need in order to apply any finish.
One of the biggest challenges, Bullock said, is in scheduling orders to ensure a smooth flow of goods through the facility. To prepare for this, the company made some minor changes to the plant's interior.
 A Stanley production worker puts some finishing touches on a flat-panel TV hutch unit in the Coastal Living line. The line starts hitting retail floors this month. |
 A worker sprays one of the 13 available painted finishes on this case piece in the Coastal Living line. The finish being applied is fed to the spray gun through one of the 14 tubes seen on the wall in the background. |
Another key to the success of the program, officials say, lies in Stanley's ability to ship in 30 days or less.
"The longer your lead time, the greater your finished goods inventory position has to be to secure the same amount of sales," said Glenn Prillaman, executive vice president of marketing and sales. "Every week you can shorten your lead times, it means you don't have to be as smart predicting your sales. This is the way we can compete with cheap labor from China."
Prillaman said the other part of the equation is about offering selection and having flexibility in order to meet the needs of retailers and consumers.
"If we make this work, we're a different kind of company. We can get a premium for our product," he said, adding that retailers don't expect Stanley to offer the cheapest product, but want it to fill a niche within their core categories.
Prillaman said the Coastal Living line is expected to increase the utilization of the plant, which employs about 800 workers.
Domestically made product accounts for about 70% of Stanley's sales, making the company one of the largest remaining U.S. case goods manufacturers.
The timing of the new line could be key for Stanley, which like others in the industry is suffering from the downturn at retail. The company's third-quarter sales were down about 25% from a year earlier, to $54.5 million, and were down about 18% for the first nine months, to $176.2 million.
Yet Prillaman is optimistic about Coastal Living, partly based on commitments and order writing at the October High Point Market. Set to hit retail floors this month, the new line should be one of Stanley's top two collections, with an anticipated $40 million in sales the first year, he said.
"We're excited about it. It's a way to differentiate ourselves from people just selling on price," he said.
Coastal Living wasn't the company's only new domestic collection. In October, it also launched Classics by Stanley Furniture, which includes three updated traditional bedroom collections - Louis Philippe, British colonial and American traditional - in three cherry finishes and a black and white finish.
Like Coastal Living, whitewood goods in the Classics groups will be finished based on a specific order, rather than the company trying to forecast which colors it thinks the market wants. Production will begin in late January and the line will start shipping in late February or early March.
John Holcomb, general manager at Dalton, Ga.-based retailer American Home Showplace, said he ordered pieces from both collections, largely due to the custom approach. With 40% of his business from special orders, he believes both will do well with customers in the coming year.
"It's setting themselves apart from the herd," Holcomb said, adding that he also likes the fact that there are no upcharges for the finish options.
"There are so few places the consumer can go for choices," he said. "It makes us more attractive as a retailer. It gives us options other stores don't have."
Color may give Stanley an edge
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