Rug vendors make strides in home textiles channel
By Lissa Wyman -- Furniture Today, April 13, 2005
New York — Major rug vendors are making strides in reshaping themselves to serve the mass market and home textiles business, according to indications at the just-concluded New York Home Textiles Market.
After about five years of testing the waters here, rug vendors have learned that products and sales skills that work in traditional rug retailing channels don't transfer to national retail chains and catalog houses.
In the textiles channel, rugs must fit with a store's total color and fashion presentation, which changes seasonally. Textiles buyers want programs that fill price points, with price/profit parameters well defined. Service is critical, with zero tolerance for late deliveries.
For several large rug vendors, sales in the mass-market channel are handled by a separate staff, and vendors must do in-store research to understand individual needs.
"We discovered early on that sales to the mass market and home textiles channel is very different from the traditional area rug business," said Alex Peykar, president of Nourison. "We have committed to an entirely separate product line and sales and marketing effort for this segment."
"The rug industry as a whole is just beginning to understand the mass market and home textiles channel," said Joan Catello, vice president of national sales for Kas Oriental Rugs. "Retailers in this area specialize in structured, programmed buying. They are very specific in their needs, so a vendor must approach this business in a very analytical way."
Mass-market buyers don't want a one-by-one rug presentation at markets. Rather, they expect a story board approach that includes product concept, color and specific price points, Catello said.
"Our job is to give these stores a unique reason to buy from us," she said. "We've got to present a total package and then tie it with a big bow."
At Hellenic Rug Imports, textiles-driven products are sold through Hellenic Home, a separate division started last year, and President Steve Mazarakis believes it eventually will account for about 30% of total sales.
The textiles business involves fast-changing fashions and intense partnerships in developing new products, Mazarakis said: "We study the stores and try to create product we feel they need, or we work with the buyers to develop that product. We provide or source closeouts and overstocks for our discount-driven customers."
John Shepherd, CEO of 828 International Trading, said, "We've been in the textiles and mass-market area for only a short time, but it's a growing area for us.... We've introduced several area rugs aimed at the catalog and promotion retailers. Next, we'll be taking a hard look at the bath and scatter rug business."
Like many other rug vendors, Shepherd said it's necessary to do your homework before making a presentation. "We do a lot of research in the stores themselves," he said. "We analyze price points, color and overall direction in the store."
The home textiles market is different from the core rug business in many ways, but there are guiding principles that are the same in both channels, Shepherd said. "Buyers are looking for quality, value and availability," he said. "That's what every retailer wants, whether there are two stores or 1,300 stores."
Central Oriental's presentation here mirrored the major growth initiative of parent Natco Home. Best known as an importer of room-size machine-made rugs, Central's offerings now include accent rugs and small decorative rugs and mats. Natco is aiming to build its small rug presence in the mass-market channel.
"We are showing more coordination stories, developing themes that carry through to all our products, such as curtains and tabletop items," said Jim Thompson, Central Oriental's vice president of sales.
Diane Carleo, marketing manager for United Weavers of America, noted that home textiles and mass-market buyers "know their numbers better than anyone else in the rug business. They live and die on turns and very low margins. They have a slot, and if you have the right product for that slot, you're in."
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