Upholstery sources focus on sharp values
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, February 9, 2009
LAS VEGAS — Stationary upholstery exhibitors will be in Las Vegas this week with hopes that attendance will be good and business even better.
“At this point, we're beyond expectations and dealing with realities about what we know. And we know that our attendance is going to be very good,” said Lee Fautsch, vice president of sales, home furnishings for Flexsteel.
“I already know who's going to be attending by territory,” he added, “and it looks very strong from Ohio and the West,” he said, with attendance also strong from the upper Midwest.
He expects retailers will make commitments “because our customers are running on such skinny inventories.
“They're going to be at this market to buy,” he added, noting from the days of the San Francisco market that “we find that the West Coast customer truly makes this a buying market because they want these western markets to be successful. They don't particularly relish traveling across the country to attend High Point.”
Flexsteel, like many companies that use High Point as their main introductory market, will add a few pieces here. But retailers can expect to see major introductions from several companies, including those who only show here.
That includes Hiatt Furniture, which is sharpening its value cost range here with sofas in its Studio line that can retail from $499 to $999.
“That going to be our focus,” said Eddie Schroder, director of marketing.
Schroder said the California-based company made a decision last year that it had to partner more closely with its dealers and provide value-engineered sofas in price points under $1,000 that would move off the retail floor.
“We call it our economic stimulus package at Hiatt,” Schroder said.
The emphasis on this category complements ongoing efforts in the Couture line of higher-priced upholstery, according to Schroder. “We haven't stepped away from that. Our identity remains the same.
“But we've positioned ourselves for the customer out there who is looking for a value. What you used to be able to sell in $1,500 sofas, you have to make up that volume and be under $1,000 to weather the storm.”
Besides re-engineering its new Studio frames, Schroder said Hiatt has partnered with suppliers to buy excess inventories of fabrics.
“Typically, we look at fabrics that are a lot more expensive,” he said, nothing the new line has hardly any fabrics that cost more than $5 a yard.
“It's a big change,” he said, “but when business is off 40% at retail, drastic measures have to be taken.”
In another move to help retailers and keep factories running, Hiatt offered a 20% discount for products bought in December.
AICO, Stylus, Emerald, RC Furniture, Nathan Anthony, Broyhill Furniture, Klaussner Furniture, Marshfield and other upholstery sources will all have plenty of new looks to show here, and LaCrosse Furniture is making the largest introduction in its 35-year history.
LaCrosse's offerings will include new styles, a number of new fabrics and about eight new leather groups.
But a whole section of the showroom will be set up to show a new category called LaCrosse World Direct, said Chris Podschun, president and CEO.
That new collection includes 11 groups composed of a sofa, loveseat, chair and ottoman and two versions of the company's best-selling sofa-sleepers. The groups, which include lots of wood trim and big, beefy frames, are imported from China.
“It's something that we feel, with these looks, that we can't manufacture in this country at these price points,” said Podschun.
“We are filling a void left by our competition that's vanished and we're creating another line for our sales reps to sell.”
He said the sofas in the World Direct program could retail for $199 to $450 (not including freight from China).
“We know that people are trying to watch their dollars,” he said.
“It's obviously not a special-order line like the LaCrosse line, but it's kind of an upbeat upholstery division like our leather that is very well valued. We know we'll create new business for our retailers.”
Podschun said he's encouraged by indicators for this market, especially by the “surprising” number of dealers that the company's reps report are coming and also by the empty pipelines that many need to fill.
“If they sell anything, we're getting re-orders,” he said.
Roy Calcagne, president of Craftmaster, said, “We've got a lot of dealers coming,” particularly from the West Coast.
“I'd say probably 70% of our West Coast dealers don't come to High Point, so this will be the first time they will see the new products that were introduced in High Point.”
He said Craftmaster saw “a nice little uptick” in business at the beginning of January, an indication that there may be some pent-up demand on the part of retailers to build inventory.
“A lot of retailers were pretty positive about New Year's weekend sales, and then it dried up again. That's a pattern we've seen for a while.”
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