Sources explore outdoor opportunities
Changing lifestyles stir new demand for style
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, April 10, 2005
High Point — Outdoor furniture could be a new growth area for some indoor furniture companies delving into the category for the first time.
Padma's Plantation experimented in the category at the October market with a rectangular, counter-height table and plans to launch another 20 SKUs in April, some of which will be marketed under another label.
French Heritage has offered some teak and tile-top tables suitable for outdoor use in the past. But in October, it made a more aggressive push into the category with acrylic chairs and benches and more tile-top tables in its Maison du Soleil collection.
While neither company expects to market these at outdoor shows, they believe the outdoor items complement their existing lines.
"By using the acrylic material and the tile-top tables, it sort of parlayed itself into that," said French Heritage spokeswoman Morgen Arnold about Maison du Soleil. "It is celebrating the colors of the sun and Provence — that is an outdoor theme in a sense, so it plays into that."
Padma's use of materials such as abaca and woven rattan also make for an easy transition into outdoor. Moreover, the company does 60% to 70% of its business in warmer climates, where outdoor living is more common year-round.
"When they think of rattan, they think of the sunroom or outdoors," said Kevin Sypolt, Padma's chief operating officer. "We do it to bring that whole tropical feel into the room. We are trying to take the path of least resistance by offering an outdoor version."
These are not the only indoor vendors offering outdoor. Bauer International also has an extensive outdoor line. The company uses materials and designs that convey the romance of tropical or colonial settings, which can fit just as well in screened-in porches and sunrooms as they do outdoors.
Laneventure got its start in indoor furniture about 30 years ago, but has developed an extensive outdoor line.
Century Furniture began offering outdoor furniture in October 2002 with a 20-piece group licensed under the Oscar de la Renta name. It included chairs and tables with cast-aluminum frames covered in Hularo, an extruded polyethylene resin fiber that is woven like rattan. Settees and sofas in the group use Sunbrella, a performance fabric that is resistant to fading and stains.
Century followed with two 12-piece outdoor groups, Andalusia and Archipelago, at the Casual Furniture and Accessories Market in Chicago in September 2003. In April 2004, it added Chatsworth, an English country-inspired collection designed in partnership with Oscar de la Renta and the Duchess of Devonshire, which includes garden benches carved from Honduran mahogany and covered with an epoxy primer.
This past October, it launched the 12-piece Gulf Stream collection, which includes chairs in stainless steel frames reminiscent of yacht railings and classic nautical furniture.
Century Vice President of Marketing Ed Tashjian said a major goal in entering the outdoor arena was to bring the company's case goods experience into a new category that suits today's lifestyles.
"We do an exhaustive study of buyer behavior," he said. "People like to entertain outdoors and are looking for furniture that is commensurate with other things they have."
He said outdoor furniture also is well suited to the sunrooms and verandas in many new homes.
However, Tashjian said the move has been a challenge, particularly relating to design and use of new materials. In addition, many of the products are made in places ranging from California to Mexico and Southeast Asia, thousands of miles from the company's home base in Hickory, N.C., meaning that "coordinating those logistics is a problem," he said. Another hurdle is breaking into new channels of distribution, such as outdoor patio shops.
"There are tons of challenges entering the business," he said.
Case goods importer Four Hands has dabbled in the category, launching the Fiji collection of rattan and teak sunroom furniture in September, but has decided not to more forward with the category. Instead, it will focus on its successful indoor line.
Despite some of the challenges and apparent risks, other recent entrants say they are committed to the category. This market, Padma's Plantation doubled the size of its High Point showroom to about 6,200 square feet, a portion of which will be devoted to outdoor. French Heritage is developing its fabric line for outdoor upholstery, to be launched in April.
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