Wood resources ready to feed rebound at retail
By Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, March 24, 2002
HIGH POINT — HIGH POINT — Case goods resources, counting on lean dealer inventories and pent-up consumer demand, will come to the April market loaded with their largest round of product introductions in several shows.
Manufacturers at premarket here cited a stuttering but real uptick at retail as another reason they anticipate strong dealer appetites for new product in April.
While nobody thinks the industry is out of the woods, exhibitors want their dealers to be ready when business comes back in a consistent fashion.
"Retailers have let their inventory levels drop to the point where, if there's any spike in business, they'll need product immediately," said Jack Richardson, president of American Drew. "That's going to help our domestic manufacturing operation."
Hooker Vice President Mike Spece agreed that low retail inventories will benefit his company. "Our written business in the last 90 days has been very strong, and inventories are lean in the stores," he said. "We've also spent a fortune improving our in-stock situation for imports."
This year is off to a better start than anticipated, said Tom Tilley, president of Pennsylvania House. "I think everybody's hungry for fresh product," he said. "January and February were pretty strong. March started a little soft, but has been picking up. We don't feel the corner's been turned, but the signs now are more positive than negative."
Steve Kincaid, president of Kincaid, said, "Retail certainly is better than it was three months ago, and it looks like the economy is improving. Incoming business since the first of the year is much better than a year ago."
Such activity is bolstering manufacturers' belief that it's time for a lot of product at market. While they feel some recent introductions might not have gotten a fair shot at retail due to the soft economy, now's not the time to stand pat.
"The tone at retail is positive, and I think buyers will be in the best mood they've been in for a while," said Bill Vaughan, president and chief executive officer of Vaughan Furniture. "We've got a lot of great old suites, but when people come to market they want great new product."
"The recession has created some obsolescence at retail," said Darrell Ferguson, president of Ferguson Copeland. "People are going to be looking at new things, new price points."
Ferguson noted that the high end, often more resilient in tough times, has felt the recent crunch.
Bernhardt also has been affected. "At the high end, a lot of that goes back to consumers' discretionary income, to the stock market, the security of their assets," said Rountree Collett, executive vice president. "Most dealers are saying business still isn't as good as we'd like. In wood, smaller-ticket items are doing better."
None of which mitigates the need for new product, nor of addressing higher price points, Collett said.
"Dealers have had ample time to work through any inventory gluts, and we have too," he said. "Retailers now can replace the dogs. And we're reminding folks that part of what we're about is being a fine furniture source, so we're targeting the higher end of our line this time."
While there's a lot of new product coming, some suppliers are taking steps to make sure more of it flies off retail floors.
"We're trying to slow down the product development cycle, so we can get it right the first time through upfront research, but speed up getting it to market once we introduce it," said Don Mecke, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Standard.
Not all retailers were impressed by what they saw at premarket. Rooms To Go President Jeff Seaman was in and out of High Point in a day, and said he probably won't go to premarket again. "If we see a quarter of what we used to see, it's a lot," he said.
Seaman believes longer lead times on imported case goods mean some product isn't ready for premarket. "And I think a lot of upholstery makers save the excitement for market," he said.
-
Specialty sleep products likely to stay hot
Dec 22, 2004 -
Leather players thinking globally, acting locally
Oct 24, 2004 -
Leather players thinking globally, acting locally
Oct 13, 2004 -
Producers bring it on
Feb 18, 2004 -
Rug vendors key on value
Mar 31, 2003
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
