License provides base for CR-Home growth
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, May 25, 2009
HIGH POINT — A gallery concept by case goods and upholstery resource Chromcraft Revington barely got past its April 2008 launch before it was scrapped in favor of a new licensing program.
The licensing agreement signed last July with Southern Living magazine caused a big shift in the way the company would present its whole-home approach to retailers.
In early 2008, Chromcraft Revington had hoped to offer a whole home concept by showing the range of categories offered in its Sumter, Cochrane, Peters-Revington, Chromcraft and Silver lines in gallery formats under the CR-Home banner. The plan was to have 25 Collections by CR-Home galleries around the country ranging from 2,000 to 14,000 square feet.
But after signing the licensing agreement, officials decided it would be best to present a whole home approach under the Southern Living name.
“The reaction from dealers was that Southern Living would be much broader than a gallery program with much broader participation,” said Ron Butler, CEO of Chromcraft Revington.
He said some dealers had begun buying into the original gallery concept, but soon came to view Southern Living as a solid replacement. Today, the company still markets its other brands, just not in a gallery format.
The Southern Living line includes three distinct groups with 150-plus SKUs of bedroom, dining room, occasional, home entertainment and upholstery.
“Southern Living represents a broader value given the scope of the line,” Butler added, noting that Southern Living magazine is seen by some 16 million readers each month. “The name recognition was greater than that of the CR-Home galleries.”
Retailers interviewed by Furniture/Today said the CR-Home gallery program didn't excite them as much as Southern Living.
“The reason we were not interested in going that (CR-Home) way was that it was too new and wasn't that recognizable,” said Richard Harrison, general manager of Laurel, Del.-based Johnny Janosik Furniture. “When you look at a gallery, you look at a program. A collage of products put together in 2,000 square feet doesn't make a gallery concept. There was no continuity.”
He said his store is buying parts of the Southern Living line and that he expects the designs to sell well among his largely Eastern Shore customer base.
Aileen Wooldrige, owner of Ridgemont Furniture Galleries in Shepherdsville, Ky., said she committed to all three Southern Living groups and expects to have them on her sales floor by mid-September. And while she has sold the other brands in the Chromcraft line, she said she didn't think they worked well in a gallery format.
“It was a little difficult to put all the manufacturers under one umbrella when they have their own individual names,” she said.
Butler said he was pleased with reaction to Southern Living, noting that it has gained commitments and orders from existing and new accounts around the country, not just in the South. He said the first order came from a dealer in Maine.
“We are also seeing it in the Great Lakes area and across the Midwest,” he said. “That speaks to the scale, design, utility and, most importantly, the Southern Living renewability. It raises awareness levels of the brand every time they see the magazine.”
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