Wider TVs drive developments in entertainment
By Alfred Dockery -- Furniture Today, April 25, 2005
High Point — Technology in the form of wide-format TVs continues to drive home entertainment introductions, as sources seek to provide solutions for consumers upgrading to plasma, DLP and LCD units.
Even regular tube TVs and CRTs are getting bigger, some going beyond 40 inches.
"TVs just keep changing," said Duane Utt, vice president of sales for Kathy Ireland Home by Martin Furniture. "Consumers are buying the new TVs in record numbers, requiring them to find new furniture to help the TVs blend into their home. We're planning a 43% growth in that part of our sales this year."
Some furniture makers expressed frustration that retailers have either been slow to floor furniture designed to house new 16:9 ratio, 50- to 70-inch TVs, or reluctant to show more than one or two new home entertainment systems.
"There will be many stores here finally shopping for home entertainment that accommodates all the LCD/DLP/plasma TVs that are popular today," said Arlene Zonni, general manager of Parker House. "Unfortunately, there are still far too many stores that refuse to face the reality that a 38- to 40-inch wide television opening just doesn't size up anymore."
Sauder Woodworking's new Laurel Inn collection offers home office and entertainment items for transitional settings. The large proportions take into consideration the new variety of dimensions in home entertainment such as large TVs.
Other Sauder collections featuring transitional styling include the new opening price point Danbury group and the Brookstone line, shown for the first time last October.
"Home entertainment continues to increase, spurred on by all the new and exciting electronics ... and by a desire to organize the explosion of DVDs, CDs and video games that have overpowered most people's homes," said Susan Dountas, Sauder's vice president of merchandising.
Under its Eric Morgan brand, Bush Inds. will unveil two collections. Bayside features casual cottage styling with a painted vanilla finish. Its video base accommodates 36-inch conventional TVs and flat-panel TVs up to 60 inches.
The Clarion collection, with contemporary styling and modern functionality, will be shown in a rich Merlot finish. The video base accommodates flat-panel TVs up to 60 inches and has storage for components and peripherals.
Bush also is debuting the Sonoma collection, which includes a video base and coordinating audio cabinet as well as a writing desk with matching mobile file and bookcase.
Stanley Furniture Collections' new home entertainment pieces focus on 50-inch and 60-inch TVs with high-definition 16:9 ratio formats. Barbados has six home entertainment pieces inspired by British Colonial themes. Midnight Sun, a new contemporary collection, includes eight home entertainment pieces designed for smaller living spaces. The collection features a plasma-lift TV that rises from the footboard of a bed or in front of a bookcase.
In addition, the Galway Bay collection offers eight home entertainment pieces in liberally distressed pine with heavy rasping and burnishing.
Hooker Furniture's focus in home entertainment this market is on formats that will accommodate new TVs. Consoles will outnumber wardrobes.
The company's major collections include Metropolitan View, a transitional lifestyle look aimed at younger consumers, and Preston Ridge, in a black and tan two-tone finish, for more traditional customers.
Hooker's Kimball Bridge home entertainment wall unit in traditional design is built around a new concept of sliding doors, which slide from the side units to the center console to hide the TV when not in use.
Kathy Ireland Home by Martin Furniture's new Park View wall unit, configured for DLP TVs, was a hit at premarket, said Utt. The company's Mount Vernon and Southampton collections are adding new configurations, he said.
For the past year, Hekman has been retooling its entertainment category with a two-front approach. First, the company developed an entertainment center program consisting of four core styles in a variety of finishes. The program's 13 components can be configured into 12 functional combinations, said Neil McKenzie, vice president of product development.
Second, Hekman has been streamlining its domestic production processes as well as developing new offshore relationships to improve its competitiveness in the category.
"We seeing our greatest success at any retail establishment where they will devote enough space to sell the program properly," said McKenzie.
Parker House attributes recent growth to two programs, its patent-pending X-pandable Carts and its Guaranteed F.I.T. (furniture integrating technology) line of custom consoles.
The X-pandable Carts are available in 13 imported wall unit collections and 10 domestic wall unit collections in 13 finishes. They also can be sold as free-standing TV consoles. Each cart accommodates TVs up to 70 inches.
In the Guaranteed F.I.T. program, Parker House offers nine collections with custom consoles ranging from 41 inches to 75 inches wide. The units have an expandable bridge and shelf and a choice of 13 finishes. Parker House offers delivery in three to four weeks.
Consumers can customize a wall unit on the company's Web site, and take the printout right to the store.
This market, Legends Furniture is launching its Tribecca collection, an elegant, casual contemporary group.
"We believe that the home entertainment business will remain brisk, driven by the exceedingly spirited electronics industry," said Tim Donk, marketing director of Legends. "The trend in home entertainment is definitely wider is better. We've been blown away by the demand for our 60-inch carts, both in walls and as stand-alones.
"This market we're going even wider to keep pace with the latest DLP models."
