Fresh styles, specials drive Tupelo biz
Upholstery makers enjoy strong traffic, order-writing
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, March 2, 2003
Tupelo, Miss. — Upholstery manufacturers were busy writing orders here last week for a selling season that has become extremely important for the lower end.
Producers of promotional seating said they had both strong attendance and order-writing during the four-day market. The brisk pace here, they said, is icing on the cake for what has become the strongest part of the year.
"I believe the first quarter is much more significant than the fourth," said Guy Lipscomb, president of Southern Motion.
Lipscomb and other producers said sales of promotional upholstery have fallen into a predictable cycle: strong in the first quarter, stable to flat in the second and third quarters, and robust again in the fourth quarter, although not at the level of the first. This market kept the trend going.
One factor driving first-quarter business is income tax refunds, a boon to blue-collar, lower-income workers, according to several factory execs.
"Some of these income tax refunds are huge," said Ray DuPree, an owner and vice president of sales and marketing for Cherry Creek Furniture, a seating producer. "They can run $4,000, $5,000 and $6,000, and, for whatever reason, they want to spend it for furniture."
Fast-growing American Furniture does 60% to 65% of its business in the first quarter, according to Sales Manager Jim Sneed. "We really noticed this in the past four years and began paying attention to it," he said.
With money in hand from tax refunds, consumers want to take home what they see on the showroom floor, added Sneed. They're not interested in custom-ordering or anything else short of instant gratification.
Right now, the company is experiencing a sort of "feeding frenzy," he said, with its plant running six days a week. The slowdown that typically follows in midyear is a time to build inventories, he added — "If you don't have the hay in the barn, you lose out."
Even though many upholstery producers enjoyed a strong year-end in '02 and anticipate even better business in the next two months, they weren't resting on their laurels this market. Showrooms were stocked with upgraded lines, better fabrics and new looks designed to grab attention on retail floors.
At Bushline Furniture, the emphasis was on frames with better fabrics that could retail for $499 to $549.
"There are sofas out there at $139, but I don't want in at that price point," said Hollis Bush, chief executive officer and owner. "This fills in price points our dealers need in this economy."
He said dealers responded well to Bushline's introductions, which include a 10-year warranty on foam and springs. "Our attendance is 20% ahead or better, with lots of new people who've never bought from us before. I think the rest of February, March and April will be great."
Elite Furniture pushed the $299 to $399 retail range with five new frames at market.
"We're promotional, so when things slow down, a lot of people come back to our price point," said Todd Miller, an owner and national accounts manager. "We've opened quite a few new accounts. This market is a lot better for us than the (one) in August."
Helping to drive Elite's business was an assortment of leather, imported fully assembled from China in containers loaded with 18 sofas or 30 love seat/sofa combinations. Miller said that the sofas are designed to retail at $599, but big dealers could blow them out at $399.
Mayo Furniture covered the waterfront here with midpriced styles in cottage, traditional and casual contemporary.
"We are trying to do lighter and brighter things like reds and medium blues," said Sonya Haltom, marketing services. "Wine and taupe is still a classic combination for us. Our emphasis is on texture over pattern, such as matalasse and quilted looks."
Golden Chair expanded its living room collection with $399 sofas in traditional and casual contemporary, and expanded its chair collection with a downsized "ladies chair," a chair-and-a-half sleeper and carved wood accent chairs.
"We see this as a growing category in the marketplace," said Mark Foster, executive vice president.
Cherry Creek also emphasized better cover selections, including a traditional frame with exposed wood to hit $499 retail, and a transitional sofa with bun feet targeted at $699.
"In the promotional industry, the consumer is trading up," said DuPree. "The $399 price point is not as important as the $499, $599 and $699 price points."
"Consumers are more aware of what they're buying so if you give them a good value, they'll buy," added United's George. The company was pushing its leather program here, and also concentrating on its upper-end division, Worthington House, with frames at $499, $799 and $899.
"That's been very good for us," said George. "You have to have the door openers," he added, referring to lower-priced goods that retailers can advertise. "But dealers want dressier floors, and the consumer is hunting for a little better product."
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