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High Point — Computer sales are soft with very little relief in sight. As a direct result, home office furniture sales are soft — and they are not likely to pick up until computers start selling again or if, even better, the economy improves.
Although some islands of home office prosperity do exist, the category has been flat or worse ever since the dot-com economy imploded in 2000.
With no overwhelming indication that this trend is about to reverse itself, the volume of home office introductions this spring appears to be off, as many manufacturers now seem to be focusing on what they perceive to be greater opportunities in other categories.
Nonetheless, retailers looking to freshen up their home office departments will have more than a few choices, although not as many as during the home office boom of the late 1990s. And they may need to look in some new showrooms.
For instance, at the extreme promotional end of the segment, the domestic flat-pack factories are not offering as many SKUs as in years past, apparently because importers have scarfed up a large chunk of this business. This has contributed to the changing look of desks retailing for $100 and less, now employing fewer processed panels and more mixed media such as metal frames, glass, wicker and other materials.
One of the companies driving this media change, Z Line Designs, is introducing a new line of promotional wood office collections. Covering staple traditional, transitional and contemporary designs, Z Line will have six groups made from Asian hardwoods, each with five pieces that will retail together between $300 and $500, with the desks from $79 to $99.
"We needed to come up with something to help our retailers drive their business," said Jim Sexton, president. "We had the metal-and-glass and we had the metal-and-melamine. This is the only segment we weren't fully developed in, but now we've found the right factory for this particular value. We feel we have every category covered now."
Other importers aggressively pursuing the promotional home office segment include Studio RTA, Schiede, 4D Concepts and Coaster.
RTA majors add value
Moving up the price ladder, the ready-to-assemble majors will be more active, adding value with enhanced styling and beefier products.
For instance, Ameriwood said it is more heavily emphasizing price points in the $149 to $199 range. At Bush Furniture, the move to assembled collections continues with the Eric Morgan brand, where four new collections include office and study pieces as part of the company's youth and young adult designs.
At Sauder Woodworking, five pieces are joining the existing Mission Collection.
The company also is expanding its winning introduction from October, Lockport, a contemporary design with thick cherry tops and metal bases.
For a more comprehensive flat-pack SOHO introduction, Tvilum-Scanbirk is bringing out the Prima collection in beech, cherry and maple melamine, with targeted retails of about $999 for a complete configuration.
The desks are available with panel sides or steel legs so retailers can customize their presentations.
More action in assembled
If there is a hot spot in SOHO today, it would have to be at price points above the RTA segment, in fully assembled furniture. This is reflected in the more aggressive introductions from companies such as Hooker, Riverside and Stanley.
Stanley has two major new collections, and the company has included comprehensive SOHO set-ups in both Provincia, a European traditional collection, and Urban Comfort, with a transitional look.
Still hitting the category hard, Hooker has developed a couple of new desk programs, including one aimed at laptops. These smaller-scaled pieces are designed to appeal to young adults who need a smaller parking place for their portable computers.
Also new is a 54-inch custom desk program designed to hit price points of $999 and $1,099. Coordinating with these new desks, Hooker has developed a new line of leather chairs from its Bradington-Young subsidiary.
From Riverside, the Metro Home Office collection is expanding with two new desks supported by a comprehensive array of storage and function.
With files, corner worktops and leg desks, these new looks can be configured straight or in corners.
"Furniture retailers looking to provide the value of assembled products at promotional price points ought to be pleased with these new groups," said Mike Charlton, vice president for product development and merchandising.
Both Hooker and Riverside have also developed armoires capable of home-office duty but convertible to entertainment use.
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