Retailers get taste of Kathy Ireland Home
By Joan Gunin and Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, March 3, 2002
TUPELO , Miss. — TUPELO , Miss. — Retailers got a first look at Kathy Ireland Home here, with Standard showing one adult bedroom group and two youth groups from the licensed collection and Style-Line releasing details about its upcoming upholstered product.
Both companies will introduce more product from the licensed collection at the High Point premarket this month and market in April.
Standard's Ireland preview included a master bedroom called San Marcos, with an English Country feel at a price point of $499 for a four-piece group. The case pieces feature a thermal infusion process that simulates wood veneer, according to Don Mecke, vice president.
Style-Line used the Tupelo market to begin promoting the Kathy Ireland Home fabric upholstery it plans to introduce at the High Point Market.
Standard is the new lead licensee for the model and designer's furniture line. Standard will offer imported leather, bedroom, youth, dining and occasional, and Style-Line will produce fabric upholstery.
The line marks the first venture into licensing for both Standard and Style-Line.
Harvey Bailey, national sales manager for Style-Line, sported a lapel button that read "Kathy Ireland Home … Ask Me." He said the contract with Kathy Ireland Worldwide has not yet been finalized, but Style-Line already has mapped out the initial rollout.
Three traditional stationary fabric frames will be introduced at premarket in High Point this month. Another three wood-based frames will be added for the April market to tie into Standard's carved wood collections, with Style-Line relying on the same Asian wood resource as Standard.
The two companies' products also will have complementary price points. Retail pricing for Style-Line's sofas will range from $699 to $1,399, Bailey said. Two upholstery collections, including Home Essentials ($699 to $799) and Gallery ($799 to $1,399 with design motifs tied to Standard's wood collections), will be featured.
"We will give them an upper end look at affordable pricing," Bailey said. The program will follow Kathy Ireland's credo about accessibility for a busy mother's lifestyle.
Style-Line will manufacture the fabric line in Verona, Miss. Standard plans to import midpriced cut-and-sew leather seating from China. The case goods will be manufactured at the company's factory in Bay Minette, Ala.
The fabric offerings, from key Style-Line fabric resources as Quaker and Culp, will reflect "an upper-end color palette of earth tones and top-notch design," Bailey said. Some fabrics will be exclusive to the collection.
Style-Line and Standard showrooms will be cross-merchandised, with each mixing in upholstery with case pieces.
Joe Hill, Standard's upholstery merchandise manager in charge of Kathy Ireland leather, said in Tupelo that the line would begin shipping in late August or early September. It will feature full aniline leathers retailing at $1,799 as well as lower-priced seating outfitted in top grain with splits.
| Standard Furniture's first products in the upcoming Kathy Ireland collection include this Princess Bouquet youth group. The full line will be introduced at the April High Point market. |
-
Look for step-up products in case goods
Nov 4, 2011 -
Medium, higher prices set pace in case goods
May 10, 2012 -
Emphasis on design in Singapore
Apr 4, 2012 -
Updated finishes, features greet buyers in Toronto
Jan 27, 2012 -
Short Wood Groups Aimed at Sparking Sales
Aug 16, 2011
Featured Company
-
FurnitureCore.com
FurnitureCore.com is a dynamic web application aimed at the furniture industry. Retailers and manufacturers alike will find our deep reserve of tools to be exactly what their furniture business needs.www.furniturecore.com... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
