Power chairs' success poised to cross an ocean
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, January 20, 2002
HIGH POINT — HIGH POINT — Remember those power recliners that were supposed to be the rage about 20 years ago?
Don't feel bad if that doesn't ring any bells. Power recliners were anything but the rage as their noisy, hard-to-operate and very unreliable mechanisms resulted in a quick and relatively painless exit for that product niche.
But it's a niche that's anything but dead. Influenced by the product's recent success in Europe, many American reclining chair producers are beginning to install their own motorized mechanisms.
"We see that as a potential growth area," said Greg White, vice president of merchandising, La-Z-Boy residential.
White said today's motorized mechanisms have little, if anything, in common with their 1980s counterparts, and he's convinced the time is right for such products to claim an important niche at middle to upper price points.
"There are a number of more affordable systems being introduced," added Dennis Park, president of Leggett & Platt's home furnishings components business, the biggest producer of recliner mechanisms. "Over the next two or three years, I think you'll see a lot of growth here."
In Europe, the vast majority of reclining chairs have motorized mechanisms as Europeans have raced to embrace the concept, said Ron Freeman, U.S. sales manager for Weco Furniture, a German manufacturer of motion furniture.
"Here in the United States, it seems like some people still want the safety net of the manual system," Freeman said. "Our line that we sell here is not 100% motorized."
Phil Cooper, vice president of merchandising at Barcalounger, said that, while he sees power recliners as a growth area, he believes price considerations also are preventing some consumers from making the switch. A motorized recliner typically retails for at least $200 more than a manual model.
"You're taking a lot of people out of the market when you go to power," Cooper said.
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