Casual dining reaches for new options
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, February 8, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO — Casual dining is a growing category for many manufacturers, and the tables themselves are growing with a variety of expansion options.
Counter-height dining continues to be a hot niche, but table leaves were a popular topic at the just-concluded market here.
Some manufacturers said they are offering more leaf tables because of customer demand. Others said it is a way of taking advantage of the great rooms in many new homes.
Leaf tables have waxed and waned over the years, said Dave Pinamonti, senior vice president of sales and marketing for A-America. Currently, he believes it's less about being trendy and more about choosing furniture styles that naturally include leaf tables.
Many collections now sport rustic or provincial looks, he said, and tables in these styles originally incorporated leaves, so manufacturers are reproducing the designs.
David Beckmann, president of Emerald Home Furnishings, said changing consumer tastes are behind the popularity of leaf tables. The company has gotten great response to a gathering table that measures 36 inches by 54 inches with an 18-inch leaf that makes it a 54-inch-square top. A 60-inch-square top also has been well received, and Emerald is planning to offer the 60-inch table with a 20-inch leaf.
The future of casual dining is the expandable table with matching barstools and case pieces, said David Bannister, Broyhill's senior vice president of sales. Retailers need functional groups that can offer two or three home furnishing solutions, he said, so Broyhill has introduced several dining lines in recent years with self-storing leaves and protected tops.
"Casual dining is a thriving, growing portion of our business," Bannister said, adding that imported groups offer lots of look while hitting popular price points.
Casual dining is replacing formal dining in lots of homes, say some manufacturers, as great rooms replace separate dining rooms and living rooms. Small dining sets often go in the great room, said Chuck Zaionz, international sales manager for Dinec, but a larger surface is needed when company comes over, accounting for the popularity of leaves. A new design at Dinec has a 42-inch by 64-inch table with up to four 20-inch leaves. The table can grow to a full 12 feet.
The Eddie Bauer collection from Lane Home Furnishings includes a trestle table in casual style that extends to 100 inches. Lane shows the table with leather side chairs, but does a lot of business with a more-relaxed armchair of woven leather. Lane also has a line called Great Room Ideas, which marries casual dining with occasional and home entertainment furniture.
"We are creating an environment that makes the price point battle less important," said Ray Allori, Lane vice president of merchandising. "People want the look."
Function is becoming more and more important for Palliser, said David Wormald, general manager of case goods. Self-storing leaves is the most-requested function, he said.
Many leaves have aprons attached underneath to match the rest of the table. In order to stack leaves into a center storage space, the aprons must fold down, said Dinec's Zaionz, so the locking system is important.
Offering a leaf limits the material that can be used for the top, said Larry Rinaldi, AICO president. Glass tops make a room feel more open, but can't be used with standard leaf mechanisms because the joints and support system would show.
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