Home makeover shows proving industry blessing
By Gary Evans, Senior Editor -- Furniture Today, March 14, 2004
At our house, we've begun painting walls and buying new furniture.
The interior is taking on a rainbow of color because one of the guys — was it Carson or Thom? — on "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" said there's no place in life for anything "oatmeal," be it clothing or walls.
Since our house is the land of neutral, the "Queer Eye" version of the land of nod, we're using a whole lot of paint. I'm not sure I get the logic of this, but my wife says that as the walls are painted, it's time to make the furniture purchases we've been putting off.
Everyone knows that "Queer Eye" is the Bravo cable channel's smash hit, where five gay men pick some poor schlub, redo his living quarters and school him in the niceties of food and wine, attire, grooming and relationships.
My guess is the show appeals mainly to women, who spend much of their lives trying to turn the clueless into the enlightened. And one of the most appealing of the Fab Five, as they call themselves, is the design diva of the bunch, Thom Felicia.
My wife loves the show and, I admit, so do I. The guys are good at what they do, but more than that, they're funny. So "Queer Eye" has become a Tuesday night staple at my house. Our favorite part is watching Felicia turn urban garbage dumps into rooms of beauty. Felicia, by the way, has his own fan club and is replacing actress Kirstie Alley as the Pier 1 Imports spokesperson.
"Queer Eye" and the zillion other home makeover shows are beginning to make an impact on the furniture industry. The winter San Francisco market was the first place I've heard manufacturing executives credit them as a factor driving business, along with the usual suspects — an improving economy, a lively housing market, pent-up demand, etc.
How could they not? Home & Garden Television is the fastest-growing network in the history of cable TV, with something like 80 million subscribers and audiences in two dozen foreign countries. A key demographic is women 25 to 54 years old, which, of course, is a key target for furniture. HGTV has over 100 shows, which permeate the airways 24/7. Other channels like Discovery, The Learning Channel, PBS and the BBC include home shows in their lineups.
These shows kindle interest in home décor, which means purchases of everything from paint to planters to, yes, furniture. Lots of furniture.
Where previous attempts by the industry to launch institutional ad campaigns have met with very modest success — and that's being generous — home makeover shows have succeeded. It hasn't cost the industry anything, and it's required virtually no effort on our part. What a gift!
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