Youth players serve up wide range of choices
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, January 20, 2003
Toronto — Youth furniture offerings here ranged widely in styles and materials. Finishes and silhouettes varied from soft and subdued to colorful and eye-catching, and wood, plywood, medium-density fiberboard, paper veneers and laminates all proved popular.
Canwood's hot introduction was a loft bed group called Whistler aimed at high school and college students, based on a successful junior loft bed introduced last year. Fitting under the bed is a 76-inch desk, with rolling components that in turn fit under the desk, including a three-drawer filing cabinet, bookcase and CPU cart.
Dynamic Furniture added youth and home entertainment to its Chateau Philippe bedroom group. The mate's bed has three underneath storage drawers and comes with a children's desk, hutch, dresser and mirror.
Some of the company's youth collections combine solid wood with MDF and paper laminates, said Karim Kurji, Dynamic's sales and marketing manager. The 1300 series has solid-oak drawer fronts with decorative cutout grooves instead of handles. Solid- wood oak cases give dressers or chests a greater perceived value, he said, and the paper veneer for the top and sides is matched to the grain and color of the oak.
At Morigeau-Lepine, one existing collection was scaled down to meet customer requests, said Ginette Jean, sales manager and co-owner. Also, the 4500 series, in a painted finish for girls, now has a stained finish to appeal to boys.
Sizing is a bit smaller for the Canadian market than in the United States, said Werner Disselkamp, merchandising manager for Palliser's youth furniture. The Fun Plus program was a big hit in the United States, but Canadians wanted something smaller, and the smaller-scaled, lower-priced 501 Toolbench and 505 Cody collections in MDF and laminate were hits at this market.
Palliser also emphasized multiple bed options, which Disselkamp said is a key in differentiating Palliser from competitors.
The big hit for E.G. this market was Cyrano, 22 pieces spanning infancy to college in solid birch with bombé styling and a clear finish. A hot item was a changing table that fits over all E.G.'s drawer chests. The changing table comes with or without a built-in storage drawer.
