Youth manufacturers target 'tweens'
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, May 3, 2004
HIGH POINT — HIGH POINT—Youth furniture filled in the gaps this market, targeting both "tweeners" and young adults.
"Before you buy that racecar bed for your 5-year-old, try to imagine him sleeping in it when he's 15," said Glenn Prillaman, senior vice president of Young America, Stanley's youth division.
While novelty designs and bright colors still sell well to young kids, manufacturers boosted sales by offering more mature looks and increased function across the age spectrum.
Zocalo entered the youth category for the first time this market, offering both a colorful, whimsical kids group and stylish, mature looks based on adult bedrooms.
The Cherry Hill twin bed is as tall as the original, said Duncan Elcombe, marketing and sales director. He reported buyers were pleased, saying it was a look they hadn't seen in other youth groups. Elcombe was pleasantly surprised the Merlot-finished Milano sleigh bed — a mature finish for a kids room — was the show's biggest hit.
Along with the adapted pieces, Zocalo is importing the Room Magic collection from China. Designed by Karen Derfer, the drawer fronts are colored but can be reversed to show a natural wood finish, and novelty hardware replaced with wood drawer pulls. Derfer said she designed the pieces when her daughter first went to school. Now, with her daughter age 11, she's experimenting with tweener looks that will be introduced at a later market.
Tweener looks are selling for Broyhill, said Don Essenberg, merchandise manager for imported case goods. The top styles now are Louis Philippe, cottage and a relaxed traditional. The pieces can't be too mature because the kids won't want it, he said, and kids are getting more involved in making the purchase.
Cottage looks continued to be hot for many companies, including Vaughan-Bassett's Emily's Cottage, Somerset by Lea Inds., Brooke by Palliser and Stanley's Summerhaven. A Victorian girls' group remained popular for most kids furniture resources.
The minimum bed options used to be a twin panel and a twin sleigh, but companies now realize almost every group should have a full-bed version.
Princess Bouquet, a hand-painted girls group, is still the top seller for Kathy Ireland Home by Standard, but larger beds are now a must.
"For the first time in our history, our best-selling bed in our best-selling collection is a double bed," said Stanley's Prillaman. "The consumer is saying, 'For $90 more at retail, why would I not buy a double bed?' This bed will last through the teen-age years, and transition into a guest room."
Prillaman also noted that Young America now offers underbed storage options for full-size beds, something that used to be available only in twin.
Entertainment furniture continues to grow in importance. Electronics storage, such as TV carts and videogame units, have become almost as important as the student desk, said Broyhill's Essenberg.
When developing a student desk for its new Sam Jr. line, Samuel Lawrence decided not to go with a small model because kids need storage, said Barbara Dalton, manager of Sam Jr. They have their own computers and require plenty of room for media such as computer games, music CDs and movie DVDs.
Zocalo's Elcombe said retailers are telling him that consumers are looking for interesting pieces that appeal to kids. A hot item for Zocalo Kids was a small storage cabinet that originally was intended to be a small music CD cabinet for the living room. In the Milano youth group, it becomes a functional nightstand.
Kids Today Editor Jane Kitchen contributed to this story.
