Stanley revs up entertainment
Also jazzing up SOHO line with design enhancements
By Tom Edmonds -- Furniture Today, May 19, 2003
Stanleytown, Va. — Case goods major Stanley Furniture is revving up its pursuit of the SOHO and home entertainment categories.
With a series of introductions over the past three High Point markets, Stanley has made a powerful commitment to both entertainment and office furniture.
Starting from a virtual standstill with a limited lineup, entertainment has quickly become Stanley's fastest-growing category as the company has focused primarily on the new shape of video electronics.
In home office, the mix of modular, lifestyle and executive office collections has been adjusted, with more emphasis on style statements rather than pure function. That appears to be bolstering Stanley's mostly flat home office sales, which is seen as a positive in a market that is largely considered to have been declining for a couple of years.
"We have been known for home office for more than a decade, but home entertainment had never really been a big category for us," said Kelly Cain, vice president and product manager for these categories.
"But in the past year, we believe we've put together a home entertainment program that's as broad as any on the market."
Cain said Stanley will be an innovator rather than a follower in both categories of electronics furniture.
"The furniture industry has been criticized for not keeping up with technology," he said. "I've taken that as a challenge, and Stanley will be on the leading edge of both home entertainment and home office."
That lineup is geared toward the latest flat-screen, wide-screen and big-screen televisions, and as a domestic manufacturer, Stanley is looking to distinguish its cabinets in comparison with imported furniture.
"Home entertainment like every category is being impacted by imports," Cain said. "We have decided to focus on scaling and benefits that you can't get from imports."
Value-added features would include side piers that match the depth of a rear-projection television so the entertainment center doesn't have to sit away from the wall and a sophisticated wire management system.
In home office, Cain said Stanley will likely keep about a half dozen of its current modular groups.
"There are some very well-entrenched competitors focusing, as we have, on modular home office," he said. "It's very hard to differentiate yourself.
"We're taking it in a little different direction."
That direction is going focus more on large decorative executive configurations and lifestyle looks.
"We'll still have plenty of function, but we're going to focus on pieces that you could put in the living room and the great room or anywhere in the home," Cain said.
At the April market, this strategy came into focus with the introduction of two collections.
For a clean contemporary lifestyle look on a budget, Stanley developed Urban Comfort, with a 62-inch wide bookshelf desk that will retail at $999.
For a more affluent consumer looking to make a stronger, traditional style statement, there's Provincia. The collection includes a choice of executive desks, including the Trilogy conference desk with three knee holes and a decorative writing desk with antique leather inset panels and scrolled legs over a stretcher frame.
"Developing unique designs like this is a little more fun and exciting than saying, 'Here's our next modular group,' " Cain said.
