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High Point — Casual dining has grown a lot from the days of dinettes, and with the change in tables comes an increased focus on case pieces.
Many dining producers have stepped up the quality and styling of dining sets, blurring the line between casual and formal dining. And with these better looks, consumers expect to shop for more than four chairs and a baker's rack.
Consumers increasingly are buying servers, small-scale chinas and buffet/hutch units for the dining area and islands and carts for the expanded kitchens seen in many new homes.
Today's home designs often steer away from large dining rooms capable of housing lengthy tables and wide china cabinets. The kitchen has more cabinets and work area, but the dining room is either smaller or incorporated into a great room design.
Retailers all over the country are reporting that big-scale formal dining groups just aren't selling, said Dave Pinamonti, senior vice president of sales and marketing for A-America. Casual dining tables and their accompanying pieces are moving much better because they fit the home and can cost half the price of typical formal collections, he said.
The old-fashioned china cabinet isn't as important as it once was, said Don Mecke, vice president of sales and marketing for Kathy Ireland Home by Standard.
More and more, these chinas are being replaced by a buffet, with or without a hutch, said Pinamonti. A buffet can offer more storage options and hit different price points, he said. In fact, after the table and chairs, A-America's best-selling piece is a buffet with wine storage. The growing emphasis on wine storage is what led the company to develop a licensed collection with Columbia Crest Winery; the furniture will launch at the April High Point market.
Casual styling proves popular
While size can be a factor in choosing not to buy a china cabinet, Pinamonti said some buffets actually take up more floor space. But because the furniture is more casual, a buffet often looks more appropriate than a china, he explained.
The buffet can also be used as a server, so Saloom offers granite, tile and other water- and heat-resistant surfaces, said Becki Gould, marketing manager.
Emerald Home Furnishings introduced several new casual dining sets this year, and almost all are available with a buffet/hutch or server, said Cindi Jacober, marketing manager. For those who like to show off their treasured dinnerware, the company offers a display cabinet that takes up less space than a china.
No matter what size you make the furniture, pieces are always too big or too small to fit the consumer's room, said Jean Deveault, Canadel vice president of sales and marketing. Known for offering a wide variety of size and styling options on its tables, Canadel added a similar range of choice to its buffet/hutch line this year.
Eight of Canadel's style series — including traditional, contemporary, transitional, mission, country and cottage designs — now come with nine choices of case pieces. The options include standard buffets and hutches at widths of 38, 48, 54, 60 and 72 inches.
Other pieces include a corner unit, server on casters, dry goods pantry and pottery cabinet.
Canadel's most-popular size for a buffet/hutch now is 16 3/8 inches deep, 51¼ inches wide and 55¼ inches tall. It's an unusual size, Deveault admitted, but consumers like it.
Options also play a key role in Dinec's strategy. The company now has an interactive Web site, www.dinec.ca, where consumers can try out different looks on tables, chairs and case pieces. Choices include paint or stain finish colors, top edges, crown molding, feet and hardware.
Because of all the options in the dining and bedroom lines, there are 6.5 million possible SKUs to create, but only a one-page price list, said Pat Gervais, Dinec's president.
Responding to increased demand for kitchen storage, Ligo Products has doubled the number of available case pieces for each collection, including islands, servers, chinas, wine cabinets and etageres, said Dan Angus, senior vice president of sales and marketing.
From his own research, Canadel's Deveault said that most casual dining companies sell a set of case goods for every 8 to 10 table and chair sets sold. With all these options available, Canadel now sells storage goods with every 2.5 to 3 table groups sold.
While there's no doubt that tables drive storage sales, the opposite also happens, said Carla Mata-Sprinkles, vice president of marketing for Whitewood Inds. and its finished goods division, John Thomas.
Grabbing shoppers' interest
"There's no question of the impact a case piece has on a consumer's buying decision, Mata-Sprinkles said. "Many times consumers are drawn first to a case piece and then to a table and chair group simply because a case piece can tend to be a lot more interesting.
"Speaking from a marketing standpoint, many times a case piece adds 50% revenue to a salesperson's commission. Case pieces generally are as expensive, if not more expensive, than a table and chair grouping."
Key price points are "always driven by the table," added Stephen Giles, Universal's vice president of merchandising. He said $799 for a table and four chairs is a hot price, with a buffet/hutch priced the same.
Occasional producers often refer to their goods as "the jewelry" of the living room. Occasional tables and accents can offer a lot of style but be small enough not to overpower the space. Dining manufacturers looking for a similar concept are turning to stylish servers, carts and islands that can go in the dining, kitchen or great room area.
With the open design of many new homes, the kitchen island is the china cabinet of the future, said Standard's Mecke. Islands and servers offer lots of function in small spaces, he said.
Islands and carts are the specialty of Michael Scott, which has a Mix and Serve options program. The consumer can choose from different wood and stone tops and three finishes, said Jon Lannertone, vice president of sales and marketing. Black, white and a stained oak are popular casual dining colors, so they are offered on the islands and carts.
While the choices are intended to help consumers, the format also helps the retailer, Lannertone said. The products offer lots of possible SKUs, but take up a small footprint.
Island action
Cramco is beefing up its island line, offering models in widths from 30 inches to 42 inches with optional casters. Cramco is selling these items as "island sets" with two counter-height barstools, said Dave Shock, national sales manager.
The company showed one set at High Point, which was so well received that it is planning three more groups.
Douglas Furniture also had an island garner lots of attention in October, said Ken Salm, senior vice president of sales and business development. The Mill Valley collection has been very well received, he said, especially the center island, which was beefy yet stylish. With the drop leaf, the island can extend from 36 inches wide to 54 inches.
Some retailers are buying the island to be a stand-alone piece priced between $899 and $999, Salm said.
In development for 2005 at Douglas is Mill Creek, which will take a similar casual style and size down the island and other pieces to fit smaller homes and hit sharper price points.
Since islands tend to be incremental sales, expect to see more companies offering them in 2005.
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Case pieces add punch to casual dining sales
Dec 20, 2004
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