Results mixed in youth furniture
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, January 26, 2003
San Francisco — Youth furniture makers showing here reported mixed results, with some ringing up strong sales and others disappointed with traffic.
"We were quite pleased," said Don Redfern, director of marketing and product development for Thunderbird Furniture. He said the company had "very positive results" with an oak collection first introduced in July, as well as with a new finish color.
The Signature Oak group evolved from a popular adult group and features a center-ball-bearing drawer guide system with safety stop. Thunderbird applied a protective finish called Durashield to all exterior surfaces of the cases.
A new, darker finish called Espresso was shown on the Tuscany group, which did "extremely well," said Redfern. Popular bed options were a slat bed and a bent-slat bed, while a trundle storage unit was a hot option.
"Traffic was very good," said Scott Coor, sales manager at Trendwood. "Most of the major retailers and most of the major players in the West are always there." But he didn't see many from the Midwest and East.
Trendwood, known for solid-wood furniture typically in a Cinnamon stain, added some fresh finishes such as Desert Sand with Dust Blue. Coor said the Tiffany Anne collection was a hit in both Desert Sand and Whitewash.
The lack of East Coast buyers was a concern at Vermont Tubbs, which reported traffic was down overall at its Kid's Space.
"The San Francisco show has never been our strongest market, being from the East Coast," said John Vogel, manager of sales and marketing. He said the company has decided not to show in San Francisco in the future.
Some full-line manufacturers had heavy traffic overall, which helped youth sales. At Standard Furniture, the stream of buyers shopped the entire showroom, including youth, said Liliana Chacon-Menay, communications manager.
Palliser welcomed its strong traffic with new offerings in youth such as the 501 Toolbench and 505 Cody collections. The two groups are slightly smaller and more sharply priced than the Fun Plus program that has been a strong performer in the United States, said Werner Disselkamp, merchandising manager for the company's youth furniture. Toolbench, in a maple ash laminate, is replacing the FUNdamentals program.
Palliser's Opal Oak finish, with its harder grain pattern, has been popular but is outdated now, said Disselkamp. It's being replaced by the similarly colored but softer-grained Frosted Maple finish, as used in the new 529 Toni collection.
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