Home theater seating a hot ticket
By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, April 28, 2002
HIGH POINT — The stay-at-home phenomenon helped revive action at market in home theater seating, a category largely dormant during the economic boom of the late 1990s.
Producers of motion upholstery say consumers increasingly are furnishing family rooms, dens and living rooms with seating groups that allow family and friends to enjoy movies and sports with a comfortable view of the action.
"This category is taking off like a rocket," said Martha Shafer, merchandise manager for leather products at Berkline, one of several motion producers who showed home theater seating at market.
Shafer and other executives said increasing numbers of American homeowners are adding theater seating for up to a dozen people, either in individually linked seats or free-standing, two- and three-seat sofas.
Such seating pieces typically recline and have generous consoles and arm rests for snacks and drinks, and some include storage areas under the arm. Some upper-end models, such as those in Barcalounger's showroom, feature power recliners.
"We got into this category as the mortgage rates started to drop," said Phil Cooper, vice president of merchandising at Barcalounger. "In newer homes, people typically are building media rooms instead of bonus rooms. (Home theater) now goes where the pool table used to go."
Producers said the popularity of large-screen televisions is driving a good chunk of the demand for owners of not-so-new homes, but theater-style seating configurations can be appropriate for rooms featuring screens as small as 30 to 32 inches.
Peder Sorensen, national sales manager at Ekornes, said those smaller screens make the seating angle a critical element of the room arrangement, since everybody essentially wants to sit in front of the TV.
"The TV is what it's all about," Sorensen said. "If you can get consumers to understand the concept (of theater seating) they almost certainly will buy more than one seating piece."
Sorensen said Ekornes did well at market with its new Pegasus seating group, which the company describes as "family and media room seating."
Officials at Ashley reported similar results with the debut of home theater seating by the company's Millennium division, and Canadian producer Jaymar said it did well with its new home theater offerings.
"We wanted to take our leather upholstery and give the consumer the comfort of theater seating in their home," said Tom Leon, president of Millennium.
Producers said the vast majority of home theater seating is covered in leather, which typically takes the retail price point to at least $899 per piece. A power reclining mechanism will add $100 to $200 to the retail tag.
"Home theater seating can be a loveseat and a chair, or it can be a sectional, or it can be a row of single seats," said Tom Enns, merchandise manager for motion furniture at Palliser. "The goal is to make the seating as comfortable as possible."
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