American works hard to keep current with fast-changing consumer needs
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, January 23, 2005
Englewood, Colo. — Entertainment furniture — both upholstery and cabinets — is strong and growing for American Furniture Warehouse.
But the Denver chain also is struggling to keep current with the fast-changing category.
The company has settled in nicely on the upholstery side with a home theater seating program that consumers understand and buy. It's the entertainment stands and wall systems that present the biggest challenges for the Top 100 retailer.
The home-theater recliners have been strong since they were introduced, and they have improved even more since American installed home theater media rooms in all nine stores (see related story). The company relies on Lane, Emerald Home, H.M. Richards, New Generations, PeopLoungers and Douglas for these popular seating groups.
Per-seat prices start at $299 for the chair groups covered in microfiber and go up to $599 for the best leather from Lane. The stores also offer two-piece curved sets from $799 in microfiber.
For stands, the company sources a line of metal and glass stands that match the OEM stands that are often merchandised with televisions. These have sold well at $199, often more than $100 less than what the electronics superstores charge for similar items.
"Our take on it was we could get in and compete or we could let that customer walk," said Tony Mitchell, American's entertainment buyer. "We didn't want to walk the customer. It's a great product, and it's a style that's popular."
The stores also display several of the wide and low credenzas or consoles that work so well with the new tabletop DLP televisions. With below-deck storage shelves for components as well as interchangeable speaker grills, these units retail from $299 to $599, and they appear to be a permanent fixture in the new entertainment mix, Mitchell said.
American buys a mix of imported and domestically produced stands and walls from Aspen, Encore!, Golden Oak, Kemp and Pacific Designs.
The wall systems are what's really puzzling Mitchell. Once a powerful performer generating big tickets, these units are changing to accommodate the new televisions, but it's difficult to settle on the best solution, Mitchell said.
He added that he expects another strong year for the systems that surround rear-projection models that rest on the floor. However, by the end of this year, those systems will be phased out and replaced by tabletop models, according to projections from the consumer electronics industry.
"We're trying like everybody else to figure this thing out," he said. "It's crazy how much it's changing. In the old days, the expandable bridge covered just about everything out there, but now it's getting more complex to find a single satisfactory solution."
Mitchell said the adjustable-width systems developed by Parker House and Signature Seay both seem to have potential.
"Solutions like this will keep the wall unit relevant," he said.
But American intends to continue to experiment with other ideas for storing and displaying televisions. For instance, a shipment of mechanized plasma-lift cabinets will arrive soon, and Mitchell expects they will immediately become the high-end star of the department at $1,999.
"Plasma televisions have come down to prices where more of our customers are buying them, and we have to have furniture for them," he said.
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