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San Fran continues upbeat trend

By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, January 27, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO — Surprisingly good business in the last 60 days drew retailers to the winter market here, looking to replenish tight inventories and prepare for the coming season.

With attendance up from a year ago and order-writing brisk, the show here continued this month's string of uplifting markets, including the Toronto furniture show, the rug market in Atlanta and the gift show in New York — all welcome harbingers of good business ahead.

Exhibitors in San Francisco said the buying spirit was evident in dealers making up for skipping the October market and looking for new goods for their floors. The big hitters were present, but manufacturers also found strong independents, large and small, willing to make commitments.

If there was a downside, it was that those commitments were skittish. Dealers were stocking for weeks, not months, and counting on factory warehouses and quick-ship programs to carry them through. Still, orders are orders, and exhibitors were happy.

"We've seen everybody we had hoped to see," said Broyhill's Tom Lentz, vice president of marketing. "Retailers have had several weeks of strong sales, and we're beginning to see some consistency in business."

Mike Delgatti, Broyhill's executive vice president of marketing, said, "Business has improved and we feel like it will get better. We anticipate that the second half will be stronger than the first."

Sandberg Furniture builds to stock for immediate shipping, so it has a good feel for business. "Dealer inventories may be down and they have open-to-buy, but I don't see them putting themselves in a fat inventory situation," said President John Sandberg. "A barometer of how well a weekend has been is how busy our dock is on Monday."

Brydie Burke, sales manager for Pacer Furniture, described opening day as "wonderful" and noted that the Los Angeles-based upholstery maker had opened several new accounts. "Dealers slowed down on inventory and now they're ready to go," she said.

"I'd say, in general, that traffic has been decent," said W.G. "Skip" Holliman, vice president of marketing for Lane. Orders were "consistent" and were coming from large and small dealers, contributing to a strong rebound from the post-Sept. 11 dropoff.

"Our entire business has been on fire since October," said Holliman.

Jim Kelly, vice president of sales at Fairmont Designs, cited the cocooning trend for a 15% sales gain since the September attacks.

"I think the media has helped, talking about the home," he said, adding that traffic in the upholstery maker's showroom was 20% ahead of last year's opening day. "The smaller guys are ready to go."

Magnussen/Presidential also showed strong showroom orders, said the company's marketing consultant, Ron Carpenter.

January will be the best month in the 12-year history of American Leather, said Cary Benson, vice president of sales and marketing. "Things are going well. Business has been a pleasant surprise."

"People are buying," said Curt Christian, chief executive officer of case goods producer Highland Design. "The market turned off last fall, and they had to let the product they had pass through. You look at home sales. It's only a matter of time before it trickles down to us."

Case Goods Editor Powell Slaughter, Leather Editor Joan Gunin, SoHo Today Editor Gary James and Staff Writer Jeff Linville contributed to this report.

Richter Furniture Mfg.'s new case goods line from designer Eric Brand premiered in San Francisco. This table and chairs in alder achieves finish contrast through varied shapes.

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