Formal dining adapts to today's casual living
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, January 18, 2009
HIGH POINT — At retail, formal dining sets are going through a transition that reflects more casual lifestyles.
Chinas are traveling the route of the bedroom armoire, being replaced by smaller, more functional pieces such as servers with wine storage. In some cases, tables also are shifting toward gathering-height formats with self-storing leaf capacity.
Keith Koenig, president of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based City Furniture, said one of the challenges of the category is that it lacks a dominant design trend. Formal or traditional old world styles have done well in the category in the past, but today's consumers seem to prefer more modern/lifestyle looks.
That presents a challenge to the category, which doesn't have a wealth of such styles, Koenig noted.
“Modern and lifestyle are growing, but they are not great (style) categories for formal dining,” he said, adding that the formal sets that do sell have casual design elements.
China sales, he added, are down, while sales of servers and sideboards are up.
“Servers or sideboards shown with a couple of buffet lamps and a decorative mirror are much more in vogue,” he said. “From a design standpoint, the server sometimes becomes the focal point after the table and chairs.”
Bin Gonzalez, a buyer of master bedroom, formal dining and home office for Miami Gardens, Fla.-based El Dorado Furniture, said that the chain's sales in the formal dining category are down about 50% compared to two years ago. She bases that partly on the fact that many newer homes don't have larger formal dining areas.
“People are putting their dining sets in more casual environments,” she said. “They don't use the big chinas any more. They don't have the space.”
As a result, she often buys just the buffet versus the larger buffet and hutch unit for her store floors. Functional elements, such as wine storage and tables with leaf storage capacity, also add interest.
While El Dorado still sells some more traditional formal sets, those tend to be more ornate and more expensive, Gonzalez said. The company does more business with contemporary designs with a casual look and feel. To help consumers see how such groups will look in their homes, the store shows sets with place settings and other accessories.
Plymouth, Minn.-based Conlin's Furniture has seen a significant drop in formal dining sales. Three to four years ago, the category represented 25% of its total dining sales, compared to less than 5% today, said Dave Schwartz, case goods buyer.
Customers in its market area seem to like more casual footprints offered by vendors such as Sunny Designs, which uses mixed-media elements such as slate in its dining tables for a rustic look and feel.
As of early January, Conlin's was still selling more formal sets offered by Broyhill and Legacy Classic. But, even here, some of the styling leans towards a more casual contemporary look as seen in Broyhill's Northern Lights group.
Like other retailers, Conlin's also has had success with pieces that have functional elements such as servers with storage.
“Anything with wine storage tends to sell well,” Schwartz said.
While the looks have leaned toward more casual footprints, formal — including sets with more traditional designs — continues to have a strong presence.
LeAnn Carpenter, merchandise manager at Freed's Home Furnishings, said formal dining is still performing well for the company's Dallas-based store. She said that's partly due to the fact that large homes are still being built in her market. While the dining area in these homes is more open than traditional dining rooms, the rooms are still large enough to hold larger-scale formal dining sets.
Freed's devotes about 8,000 square feet of space in its 109,000-square-foot Dallas store to the formal dining category and about 2,000 square feet in its 33,000-square-foot Arlington store. That space allocation hasn't changed much in recent years, Carpenter said, adding that traditional styles — including ornate European traditional styles — continue to sell well in the market.
However, the company also is selling more transitional looks as well, again with fewer chinas and more sideboards. Three to four years ago, one-half to three-quarters of its table sales included a china cabinet. Today, the rate is more like one in four, a fact Carpenter attributed to homes with additional kitchen cabinet space for stemware storage.
At Englewood, Colo.- based American Furniture Warehouse, the formal category appears to be making a comeback, said Fran Coleman, case goods buyer. Although china sales are weak, larger tables in the 100- to 108-inch range continue to be popular, as do fully upholstered, wood-framed side and arm chairs.
Coleman attributed the renewed interest in the formal dining category to the number of existing homes with formal dining areas. Those that are remodeling or upfitting those homes may be looking to replace sets they purchased 15 years ago or more, he said.
While more open in nature in the form of a great room, dining areas in newer homes also can easily accommodate a more formal dining set.
“Their (customer's) dining area is still important to them, so they are working on filling up that open space,” Coleman said, noting that American's stores tend to show dining groups together.
-
Wood vendors offer range of styles, prices
Oct 17, 2009 -
Conservative case goods
Nov 24, 2010 -
Array of product on tap for Las Vegas Market
Feb 4, 2007 -
New product on tap for Las Vegas Market
Jan 25, 2010 -
Array of product on tap for Vegas market
Jan 20, 2008
Specialty retailer LoveSac introduces new store design
Kincaid Furniture honors Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter for Habitat work
Belfort Furniture, Lawrance Furniture are NHFA Retailers of Year
Omnia Furniture ends relationship with Kathy Ireland Worldwide
Singapore furniture show expecting increased turnout
Featured Company
-
Wright Labels
Bill and Tom Wright founded Wright of Thomasville in 1961 on the idea that printing was a creative medium and the belief that "a promise made is a promise kept." The Wright brothers focused their attention on providing exceptional printing for the... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
