Casual contemporary rules in 2004 case goods style survey

By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, March 28, 2004

HIGH POINT — HIGH POINT— Look up contemporary in a thesaurus, and you see its synonyms include modern, current, up-to-date and fresh. Those meanings may explain why contemporary has dominated case goods sales in recent years.

There's no doubt that contemporary's chameleon-like ability to constantly reinvent itself contributes to its sales success. It has the biggest share of sales in two of the three price-point levels for three of the four case goods product categories. Only in youth bedroom did American country replace contemporary in the top spot for market share.

Casual contemporary, in particular, shows the fastest sales growth in every category and price point with the sole exception of high-end formal dining.

Mission/Arts & Crafts was named by 14% of retailers as having the fastest sales growth in formal dining's high end. It was the only style that more than 10% of retailers identified as fastest growing at that price point in formal dining. Retailers named it a fastest-growing style at the high end in casual dining and youth bedroom, too.

Mission/Art & Crafts seems to defy the conventional wisdom that what's popular at the high end will work its way down the price ladder. It's already identified as one of the fastest-growing styles at middle price points in all four case goods categories and at opening price points in master bedroom and casual dining.

While technically both Mission and Shaker are American country styles, their clean lines make them compatible with contemporary. Shaker was named as a fast-growing style at lower price points in master bedroom, all three price points in youth and middle price points in formal dining.

At the high end in master bedroom, retailers say 18th century is once again showing growth, along with European traditional. The 18th-century category also has gained share in youth bedroom, at all price points, and 11% of retailers at the high-end say it's their fastest-growing youth bedroom style, perhaps signaling that the furniture is being used in other rooms.

In the bedroom, both master and youth, the contemporary style family continues as the market share leader at the low end. But European country has gained share at these lower price points in master bedroom, bolstered no doubt by imports in these styles at highly competitive prices.

Also perennially popular, American country accounted for a quarter of master bedroom sales at low and middle price points. But the style falls behind 18th century and other traditional styles at the high end.

Preference for contemporary and American country styles carries over into dining as well, where again they captured the top two spots in market share across price points for both formal and casual.

By region, while contemporary and American country still top the charts, retailers report some differences in style preferences. In the South, frequently thought of as a bastion of traditional, architectural contemporary is one of the fastest-growing styles in both master bedroom and formal dining. It appears that Southerners are mavericks when it comes to style choices. Across all four case goods categories, the market share by style in the South is more evenly divided than in any other region.

Highlights by product:

Master bedroom

• Contemporary is firmly entrenched as the style with the largest market share at the promotional level. With American country in the No. 2 spot, the two styles together account for nearly two-thirds of the market at opening price points.

• Retailers report casual contemporary as the fastest-growing style across all price points, followed by Early American/Colonial in the second place for the low and mid price points.

• In the Northeast, where American country edges out contemporary as the market share leader in master bedroom, Mission/Arts & Crafts, Early American/Colonial and Shaker are among the styles showing the fastest sales growth. Northeastern retailers also report continued growth in master bedroom sales for casual contemporary, English country and American 18th century.

• American country is also the master bedroom market share leader in the West, where sales growth is reported for casual contemporary, Early American/Colonial and Mission. In the West, contemporary and 18th century are neck-and-neck for second place in share of master bedroom sales.

Youth bedroom

• Contemporary is still the leader in promotional prices, accounting for two-fifths of market share.

• At middle and upper price points, American country takes the lead, with 18th century and other traditional styles picking up a significant share of sales.

• In youth bedroom, Southerners are all over the board in terms of style choices, but contemporary is coming on strong. More than half the retailers of youth bedroom in the South report it as their fastest-growing youth bedroom style.

• Western retailers, too, report eclectic selling in youth bedroom, although the ubiquitous favorites, American country and contemporary, have the biggest market share.

• In the Midwest, contemporary is the leader in youth bedroom sales, while in the Northeast, American country holds sway.

Formal dining

• American country and contemporary split almost two-thirds of formal dining sales at promotional price points, closely matching the sales share reported by retailers in 2002.

• At middle price points, American country holds a 35% share of sales, with the remaining sales fairly evenly split among remaining styles.

• At the high end, while contemporary holds a slight lead, 18th century and other traditional styles have picked up steam, largely at the expense of American country.

• By region, style choices for formal dining are more evenly split than in other product categories. In the South, contemporary and 18th century share top billing, but are only slightly ahead of other styles in terms of share of sales. In the Midwest and Northeast, it's mainly contemporary and American country. In the West, American country holds the largest market share, but both contemporary and 18th century have gained market share since 2002.

Casual dining

• Contemporary continues to dominate casual dining. Only at middle price points does American country edge out contemporary as the market share leader.

• Contemporary has the largest market share in the three of the four regions — the Midwest, South and West. American country is the casual dining style leader in the Northeast, a repeat of its 2002 position.

• In terms of what's showing the fastest sales growth, retailers still look to casual contemporary across the board. But American country may gain ground in the future as retailers also report fast sales growth for both Mission and Early American.

• At the high end, some retailers also are seeing fast sales growth for French country styles.

Style families

Retailers used the following list to identify the market share of various styles at their stores:

Contemporary

Art Deco
Architectural contemporary
Casual contemporary
European modern
Scandinavian

American country

Early American/Colonial
Mission/Arts & Crafts
Shaker
Southwestern

European country

English country
French country
Mediterranean

Other traditional

Campaign
Formal French
Italian
Neoclassic
European traditional
Victorian
West Indies/Caribbean

18th century

English 18th century
American 18th century

Other

Asian

Fastest-growing styles by region

Percentage of retailers naming style as showing the fastest sales growth

Casual contemporary
Mission/Arts & Crafts
MB = Master bedroom
YB = Youth bedroom
FD = Formal dining
CD = Casual dining

West

Alaska
Arizona
California
Colorado
Hawaii
Idaho
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
Oregon
Utah
Washington
Wyoming

West
MB	30%
YB	46%
FD	29%
CD	47%

Midwest

Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
North Dakota
Ohio
South Dakota
Wisconsin

Midwest
MB	26%
YB	47%
FD	19%
CD	49%

Northeast

Connecticut
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont

Northeast
MB	18%
YB	28%
FD	23%
CD	39%

South

Alabama
Arkansas
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
West Virginia

South
MB	26%
YB	53%
FD	19%
CD	49%

By price points

Casual contemporary
Mission/Arts & Crafts
MB = Master bedroom
YB = Youth bedroom
FD = Formal dining
CD = Casual dining

Low
MB	47%
YB	52%
FD	50%
CD	59%
Medium
MB	19%
YB	46%
FD	16%
CD	44%
High
MB	15%
YB	32%
FD	14%
CD	34%