Hooker debuting Bradington-Young executive chairs
Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, April 1, 2003
High Point — Hooker Furniture is taking its first steps in product development with the Bradington-Young seating division it acquired earlier this year with a line of premium office chairs.
The office category made sense for development for a couple of reasons, said Paul Toms Jr., Hooker's chairman and chief executive officer.
"We had sourced chairs through Bradington-Young, so this is an extension of what we were doing," he said. "They also were selling their office seating to the same consumers, and sometimes to the same stores, as we were."
At this week's market, the Bradington-Young division is providing Hooker with six all-leather tilt swivel executive chairs available in four colors. Four of the chairs come in 11 finishes to correlate with the finishes in Hooker's executive and modular work station home office groups. Two are offered with a black base.
The chairs, which retail from $999 to $1,199, give Hooker a more complete good-better-best office-seating assortment. Last October, Hooker introduced an imported office chair program in leather-vinyl retailing from $599 to $699. The company already had a wood-back, leather-seat chair at $399, and a few choices in the $799 to $899 retail range.
"Our hope is to get these chairs placed in our 480 home office specialty galleries, which will give the consumer more options and increase the productivity of the display for the dealer," said Hank Long, senior vice president of merchandising and design.
SmartWorks gallery dealers will get leather swatches in addition to wood-finish chips to build special-order business, and Hooker will develop a special office chair section in its home office catalog, Long said.
Premium features on the new chairs include all-leather covers, knee-tilt function and better seat comfort. In addition to executive chairs, Hooker is offering three styles of leather visitor's chairs available in four colors and 11 finishes, and a starting ergonomic chair in black leather only, which retails at $499.
Bradington-Young is expected to provide other seating categories in the future.
"We think there are opportunities to market together, to come to market with comprehensive programs that marry our case goods and their seating," Toms said. "With their strength in reclining seating and our strength in home entertainment, especially with upper middle-price traditional styles, there's an opportunity there."
