Survey reveals leather buying trends
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, April 14, 2003
High Point — A number of top retailers and leather suppliers met for breakfast here during market to hear the findings of a new Furniture/Today survey of consumers currently shopping for leather furniture.
The crowd included representatives from American Furniture Warehouse, Kittle's, JCPenney, Carls, Eldorado, Natuzzi, Lane, Niroflex, Elite and Interline Italia — all active players in the leather category, which generated more than $5.6 billion at retail in 2001.
Ray Allegrezza, editor in chief of Furniture/Today, presented the findings. Mohawk Finishing Products sponsored the event.
Survey results were based on the input and insights of 924 consumers who visited the FurnitureFan Web site in February looking for information about leather furniture.
Most shoppers were female (72%) and have two or more members in their family (86%). More than half (53%) said they didn't currently own leather furniture.
By age, shoppers between 25 and 44 made up 57% of the group, and those between 45 and 54 made up another 28%. Consumers between the ages of 55 and 64 made up only 9%, suggesting that as more established households, they may already have most of their leather furniture. The remaining 6% were younger than 25.
The survey also suggests that consumers in the market for leather tend to be affluent, with 30% earning $85,000 a year or more and another 44% making $50,000 to $84,999.
Other findings suggest that leather furniture has appeal to consumers in all age and economic segments.
The vast majority said that they are shopping at furniture stores for their leather furniture, followed in descending order by department stores, the Internet, leather specialty stores and warehouse clubs. Discount stores and office superstores were also on their radar.
Many of the categories sought by consumers were predictable — sofas, loveseats and recliners.
One relatively new category — home theater seating — was mentioned often enough to merit watching. Consumers seem willing to pay a premium for this product.
While the majority said they would spend a maximum of $1,000 for a sofa, they were willing to pay $2,500 for home theater seating.
