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Youth takes backseat to adult BR at market

By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, April 28, 2002

HIGH POINT — HIGH POINT — Cooling down after a hot couple of years, youth furniture took a back seat to master bedroom in many market showrooms.

While some manufacturers came out with big offerings, most said they were focused on filling in a few holes in their style portfolios.

Lea Inds. had the largest collection with the 54-piece Jessica McClintock group. Delma Arredo introduced nine collections, and Wooden Man entered the category for the first time with its Kindling division.

On the other hand, Riverside, Kincaid, Blackhawk and Pilliod said they had little if any new product, but their existing lines were selling well.

Ashley Furniture introduced three metal bunk beds, two with additional pieces such as desks, and an all-wood bed — a total of nine main youth pieces with extra product added to existing lines. In comparison, Ashley had 11 new adult bedroom groups with dozens of SKUs overall.

Designers usually build youth groups after their best-selling adult collections, said Rob Hoffman, president of Ashley's case goods division. With all 11 new adult groups doing well, the company has plenty of options for new youth product come October.

Ashley said its sales team was enthusiastic about the new youth and adult pieces because the company encouraged its sales reps to share in the product design process more than ever before.

"If you're not using your salesmen, you're making a mistake," said Hoffman.

Manufacturers that did focus on new collections in High Point found interested buyers.

"I think retailers came here hungry for products," said Steven Ingrassia, president of Wooden Man. "I'm very happy with the market." He said he believed the company's 16-design line and extensive color lineup won him retail new accounts. The success of the initial line here prompted Ingrassia to start designs for additional collections.

"I didn't realize the youth was going to be the hit that it was," he said. "We've been able to broaden the retail base and we've had larger sells. It's opened up a whole new area of the market for us."

Armed with a variety of laminate and medium density fiberboard youth collections, Delma Arredo also said it had a strong market. With nine new collections, the company's youth lineup is up to 17 groups.

"This is the first market that I can say our youth has really taken off," President Alexander Petruzzelli said.

The Powell Co. brought in solid-wood furniture from Thailand and Brazil to strong response. The Thailand group comes in white, with yellow is offered as an alternative and some available in blue. Buyers were mixing and matching the pieces, said Katie Hatch, vice president merchandise manager for Powell Kids.

An across-the-line price cut and new color combinations helped Vermont Precision Woodworks, said President Geoff Jackson.

"It's been a great market. With so many people missing last market (October), they need the product," he said. Vermont Precision also added six cribs to its lineup.

At Coaster, the favorite style was a corner bunk bed with bookcase and desk included. People liked the shape, form and silver-coat finish of the metal and wood piece, said Darrell Verdeck, vice president of marketing. The bestseller was a captain's bed with ladder and desk surface that tuck away out of sight. Both are produced in Malaysia.

Drawing looks at Huppé was the new Malibu group shown in Lilac and Aqua finishes. The groups come in a wide variety of color options, and best-seller Nevada was shown in the favored Brandy with platinum hardware.

Kids Today Editor Sheila Long O'Mara contributed to this story.

Stanley introduced its largest youth collection yet with Winterhaven/Summerhaven. Winterhaven features solid pine construction with a warm Honey Pine finish, while Summerhaven has a coastal look with hardwood solids and a white rubbed-through finish.

Stanley boosts youth shop program

HIGH POINT — Stanley Furniture is working to make it simpler to become a Stanley Young America Shop, with prepared plans and materials for stores.

Stanley has greatly increased its youth offering the past couple of years under its Young America division. It now offers 27 finishes on 14 styles, many of which are part of the Your Choice program in which similar products are priced the same no matter which style or finish is chosen.

At market, banners gave some details about the shop program. Stanley doesn't require stores to maintain youth inventory and offers 15-day delivery with quality control at 99% undamaged, according to Glenn Prillaman, vice president and product manager of Young America.

Prillaman said Stanley has about 350 retailers dedicating space to its products and the average sales amount per square foot is $406 a year. The median average of the top 100 furniture stores in 2000 was $300 per square foot, for those for whom data was available, according to Furniture/Today research.

The average dedicated space in the Young America Shops is 1,200 square feet, Prillaman said. Stanley's Young America showroom here is about 1,500 square feet, and the company tries to give retailers some ideas of how to lay out their stores.

When a retailer is interested, a Stanley employee visits a store and takes measurements. Then the company mails a "shop box" kit that includes a recommended diagram for the store's floor plan as well as banners and other promotional materials.

Also, many customers ask Stanley where it gets its accessories for the showroom, so the manufacturer is including a sourcebook of vendors for these items.

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