Encore! selling mechanisms
Asian-made line targets producers, custom installers
By Tom Edmonds -- Furniture Today, January 23, 2005
Las Vegas — Encore!, the home theater division of APA Marketing, is now serving as the U.S. distributor for a line of Asian-made lift mechanisms.
The Underwriters Laboratories-approved units will be available to furniture manufacturers as well as custom home-theater installers.
Rich Serlin, executive vice president of Encore, said that custom installations of media or home theater rooms are growing rapidly, and there is a market for mechanisms that can be built into custom cabinets.
"There are a lot of custom installs going on," Serlin said. "It's a whole new world out there in terms of what's happening with home theater, and it's a pretty big business."
Encore will continue to offer its own line of plasma lift cabinets, having resolved quality issues with the mechanisms that cropped up last summer.
"We've got that all sorted out now, which is why we feel comfortable serving as distributor," Serlin said.
Encore's cabinets, which will retail from $2,999 to $3,499, will hit stores this month, and the first three containers are presold. To support the retail display and presentation of these units, Encore is distributing plasma televisions from LG.
"The only way you can display the lift cabinets properly is with a plasma television inside," Serlin said. "Some of our customers want to sell the plasmas, but most want to have a set that enhances their furniture displays."
He added that the combination of a lift cabinet with a plasma television has already generated some impressive impulse purchases. "With the television on-board, we're looking at an $8,999 ticket, although some retailers may be more aggressive," he said.
Even at these prices, combining a mechanized cabinet with the crystal-clear picture of a plasma television is a powerful lure for consumers, Serlin said.
"With the cabinets, what you have is instant excitement, instant cool factor," he said. "The glow burns through the entire department. That was the buzz in our showroom, and it can be replicated at retail. I'm excited that so many retailers understand the potential."
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