Producers bring it on

Optimistic outlook leads Tupelo exhibitors to introduce more product

By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, February 18, 2004

AT THE MARKET — AT THE MARKET With business on the upswing and the tax refund season approaching, manufacturers have come to market here with a hefty amount of product to keep sales growing.

For most, business has been increasing, and factories in Mississippi and elsewhere have been returning to more normal work schedules. January provided solid numbers for wood and upholstery makers, and tax refunds — like manna for promotional furniture sales — promise to keep registers ringing.

"It's starting to be fun again," said Hamp Hughes, president of promotional upholstery maker Rose Hill.

"We're introducing a lot of product," said Ray Crocker, president of Fraenkel, which has been revamping its upholstery and case goods.

Fraenkel is showing five new bedrooms and four dining rooms here, plus an occasional program and several upholstery frames and covers.

"This will get us back on track," said Crocker. "We made a big effort in the last 12 months to get new product up and down the line. I think this is going to be an exciting market for us. We're like everybody else – business could be better. We're pushing to make it better."

Fraenkel saw an increase in overall business in January, and its bedding division worked "substantial" overtime, Crocker said. "We see an uptick and we feel good about it. The economy is going to recover a little more slowly than we all prefer, but it's still going to recover. 2004 ought to be a strong year, barring unforeseen circumstances."

The bedroom introductions are in the $2,999 retail price range, with a similar price point in dining, and will top out Fraenkel's pricing scale.

Rose Hill is showing a gallery of SimplyFits, its ready-to-assemble upholstery program in the $299 to $499 price points, and introducing a line of upholstery at the $599 to $799 price points, according to Hughes. The latter, merchandised as King's Creek, adds step-up price points for the company.

"We were so saturated with the major retailers we sell at the $399, $499 price points, we needed to give them more reasons to buy from us," Hughes said.

King's Creek will be bench-made in the same factory as Rose Hill's promotional line, with three to six people constructing an entire sofa or loveseat. Hughes hopes to have six or so frames ready for retailers to see here.

He said business has been so brisk that the new SimplyFits gallery planned for Tupelo will consist of only five to six frames. "We've had to scale that back because of the amount of volume that we've had," he said. "We're going to crawl with this thing before we open the floodgates."

"We're wide open," said Hughes about the company's business right now. "We have a full crew back and added lines over the holiday. And we're tying to get that SimplyFits plant built," speaking of a facility that will be dedicated to the new program.

Ashley is introducing 10 living room packages — including a sofa, loveseat and three tables — at $999 and new motion sofas starting at $599 and $699, said Kerry Lebensburger, president of sales for the upholstery division.

Business has been "excellent," Lebensburger said. "If it keeps up at this pace, it'll be a terrific year."

Cabot Longnecker, vice president of merchandising for recliners at Berkline, said his company will be emphasizing chairs retailing for $399 in fabric here.

"We're going to be pretty aggressive with our introductions," he said. "Buyers are looking for extreme comfort and a lot of value … so that's what we're focusing on."

Faux suede making splash

Also here with aggressive intros is PeopLoungers, which is best known for motion furniture but has enjoyed some recent success in stationary upholstery.

"Our business has been wonderful. It has not slowed down since September," said Vandy Baker, vice president of merchandising.

He said business has been strong in all product categories, and said just about any item with a faux suede cover is proving to be a hit with dealers.

"Everybody wants more color on the retail floor, and suede is the way to accomplish that," said Baker.

Occasional specialist Stein World has four new groups for Tupelo, including benches, stools and bombe chests, said James Franks, chief operating officer. These are items the company currently carries, but with new looks such as leather tops and burl inlay veneers.

"Business has been great," said President Andy Stein. "All of the new pieces we introduced at High Point have been well received."

Much of Stein World's growth over the past few years has come from reaching new customers, Franks said, but now it's getting strong growth from return business and increased turns.

Upholstery maker Style Line Furniture will introduce eight to 10 frames in the $599 to $699 price points, mostly in contemporary silhouettes — a new niche for the company. Sofas will be accompanied by chairs and ottomans to show correlating fabric patterns and pillows, said Jessica Barnes, marketing assistant.

"Tupelo is our big push," she said. "We focus a lot on High Point, but we're working hard to come out with dynamite frames. Our main focus is going to be on contemporary and transitional. We've heard from a lot of our customers that ... they've had enough traditional and now they want something new, cutting edge.

"Business definitely is picking up," Barnes added. "The last couple of weeks for us have been steadily climbing."

A lot of hard work in 2003 got promotional case goods maker and importer Harden Mfg. off to a strong start this year, with sales through the first three weeks of January up 27% over a year ago.

Beefing up imports

"We were very aggressive with our introductions in 2003, and as I told our people at High Point market, it will pay off next year," said Craig Smith, president and chief operating officer. "We've predicted '04 is going to be a good year all along, barring something crazy happening overseas. There's lots of pent-up demand."

In Tupelo, Harden is showcasing six imported bedrooms and eight curios that are warehoused and ready to ship, plus three new import bedrooms and three new domestic bedrooms.

"This will be the first tax season we've had a true import program available," Smith said, referring to a hot sales period every year for Harden.

Tupelo buyers will see more new goods here from Standard than ever, due to a new approach to product development. At least 35% of the showroom will hold product that is new since High Point.

"We started a new product development process in the latter part of last year," said Don Mecke, senior vice president of sales and marketing. "We decided to separate markets from our market research, so when we come to a show we're selling. When we show a product at market now, we're already committed to it, and it's ready to ship in a short time frame."

Specialist Golden Chair is featuring a group of hand-carved wood accent chairs in the $199 to $299 and possibly $399 price points, said Mark Foster, executive vice president.

"We're trying to build a broader collection of chairs and build more comfort in the higher-priced chairs with more scale for the money," he said. "We're also improving our fabric selection in those chairs, rounding out a program we started a year ago."

Foster expects Tupelo to be well attended. "We've already been told by some larger retailers they'll be attending this market," he said.

Business is starting to turn up for Union City Mirror & Table, said Chopper Russo, vice president.

Union City is known for French provincial styling, Russo said, and is broadening its selection with a couple of new table sets. The company has most of its furniture priced in the medium-high and high-end range, he said, but the new goods hit more promotional price points to provide retailers with one-stop shopping.

Securing more floorspace

This year also has started briskly for glider rocker producer Towne Square, which is emphasizing a new fabric lineup that was rolled out in High Point in October, as well as a group of promotionally priced rockers called the Heritage collection that was unveiled here in August.

"We're very positive about what is happening in the marketplace," said Brian Woolley, vice president of sales. "We started off the year with some very strong orders."

Woolley said the Heritage collection, which features gliders retailing for $199 and $299, is doing well at retail. The collection has enabled the company to secure more retail slots because it complements the Towne Square line, which starts at $299, Woolley said.

Acknowledgements

Contributing to this story were Powell Slaughter, case goods editor; Larry Thomas, business editor; and Jeff Linville, staff writer.