RTA producers seek 'spirit of innovation'
By Tom Edmonds -- Furniture Today, April 28, 2002
HIGH POINT — Flat-pack furniture makers continued to tinker with their home office assortments here as big-box buyers searched for the next big idea in computer furniture. It remains to be seen whether they found it.
Ready-to-assemble home office continues to evolve into something of a bipolar market, and the introductions at market reflected the serious home office computer user as well as the less demanding, more price-sensitive user.
Producers said buyers seemed eager to embrace their new ideas as retail activity may be picking up, but stores still require new looks and configurations in order to boost sales.
Looking to inject the spirit of innovation that seems to mark all technology-related products, O'Sullivan, whose Digital Dock desk is about to hit retail, expanded the concept to more collections, providing easy desk-top access to the front and back of a computer.
Sauder, continuing to refine a program introduced last fall, added a fold-down chair to a few corner computer armoires. The chair, which is included with the armoire in a package that will sell in the $399 to $499 retail range, folds down and tucks into the armoire's knee hole.
Sauder and O'Sullivan both added to their up-market modular series. For O'Sullivan, the Maestro addition to the Intelligent Designs brand was well received, and a new finish option should add life to Sauder's Adaptech program at Office Depot.
D-Scan, a Masco company, debuted a flat-pack desk system with cherry veneers, stylish metal bases and privacy panels. A complete workstation, with rolling file, retails for about $1,000.
At Doxey, known for bookcases and storage cabinets, attracted interest with an imported desk line in solids and veneers, featuring a new patent-pending assembly system. Described as "almost assembled" by President Richard Henkel, the system's drawer glides are attached at the factory, and simplified hardware and other enhancements significantly reduce assembly time — less than an hour on a desk that will retail for $399.
-
Home office vendors tap core strengths
Oct 26, 2011 -
Aspenhome recognizes varied uses of home office
Aug 5, 2011 -
RTA Home Office Big Business Online
Jul 13, 2011 -
Large, small footprints coexist in home office
May 2, 2011
Featured Company
-
Brandwise Inc.
Brandwise serves a model - not just an industry - by integrating, automating, and optimizing the entire sales channel, from wholesale Suppliers to their Reps and the Retailers they service. In short, our software helps Reps and Suppliers sell more and create... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
