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Upholstery dealers stock up

By Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today, March 3, 2002

TUPELO , Miss. — For many upholstery retailers, the Tupelo market proved to be timely.

"Dealers are out of merchandise," said Danny Dempsey president of upholstery producer Life Style. "They are looking for salable items — something that is a proven perceived value."

To that end, Life Style and such other upholstery manufacturers as Style-Line, Smith and Ashley, took the opportunity to cover some top-selling frames with tempting fresh fabrics.

"It has been a good market for us," Dempsey said. He said retail business appeared to be helped by the availability of rapid tax returns. "People might not be flying or spending money on vacations but they are fixing up their living rooms."

Kerry Lebensburger, president of Ashley's upholstery division, said dealers were not just making commitments, they were placing orders because of the lead time necessary to acquire imported microfiber fabrics.

"Fantastic" was how Harvey Bailey, national sales manager for Style-Line described the Tupelo show.

"With 85% of the fabrics shown here brand new out of Showtime, we are ready to tweak our merchandise for our regular customers for pre-market and market," he said. Style-Line introduced 38 fabric patterns and seven frames.

Tom Dieterich, president of River Oaks, was promoting a fabric-covered deep- seated modular sectional with chaise. Offered with either a standard square ottoman or an oversized hexagonal party ottoman, it is priced to retail at $2,499.

Smith Furniture introduced this reverse camelback featuring roll arms, split skirt, accent pillows and fringe trim, priced to retail at $799. Cover is Bradbury Basil by Quaker.

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