Survey targets import specialists
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, December 7, 2003
On March 8, Furniture/Today will publish its first comprehensive guide to a growing group of industry players — import specialists.
These are companies that primarily serve as design and marketing arms of foreign-based manufacturers. In some cases, they also warehouse and distribute product in U.S. and Canadian markets.
This first installment, called The Asian Connection, will focus on companies that serve manufacturers in Asia and the Pacific Rim. Subsequent reports will look at import specialists that work with sourcing partners in other parts of the world, including South America and Europe.
The guide will not include companies, domestic or otherwise, that manufacture product either in the United States or in other countries. It also will not include retailers that import product directly from foreign manufacturers.
The guide aims to describe these companies through estimated sales volumes and shipments, and will include other information such as product assortments, sourcing locations, warehouse locations, delivery times and key retail accounts.
Our goal is to provide the most comprehensive and reader-friendly list possible our first time out. But to do this, we need the help of importers that qualify for the guide. This week, we will distribute a survey via fax and e-mail, and we'd like to get responses by the end of the year.
For a copy of the survey, look on our Web site (www.furnituretoday.com) or contact Judi Fulbright, market research specialist, at (336) 605-1092 or by e-mail at jfulbright@reedbusiness.com.
In addition to introducing key players, the guide also aims to help characterize the changing nature of the furniture industry. North American factories still produce much of our furniture, but globalization has opened the doors to a wider geographic manufacturing base. As a result, the industry is increasingly shifting its focus to the kinds of pricing, style and service that foreign manufacturers can deliver.
Import specialists are helping make this shift possible by guiding both the design and marketing of product. In some cases, they also provide advertising and other support services useful to retailers.
A number of profiles and stories will be included in the report to help illustrate this trend.
If you have an interesting story to tell about your business, please call Thomas Russell, associate editor, at (336) 605-3815 or e-mail him at trussell@reedbusiness.com.
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