Winds of change blow through market
Carole Sloan, Senior Contributing Editor -- Furniture Today, April 24, 2005
It wasn't really a WOW! market, but for many the April show was a vast improvement on the last two or three High Point events. For the most part, retailers were talking about a pretty good beginning to the year. And there were no instances of gloom and doom.
Notable this market were the conversations about the growing significance of the Internet in marketing furniture, and how best — or whether — to use it as a channel of distribution. It was pointed out that for several multi-channel retailers, Internet sales of furniture are now outstripping those from catalogs.
And the Internet also is being cited as a way to try out new ideas, for manufacturers, of course, but especially for retailers. If it flies on the Internet, a number of retailers quickly jump to add it to their in-store selections, which typically are narrower than what can be featured online.
Then there are the new 800-pound gorillas, the Target and Home Depot catalogs that are in part structured to attract customers to their respective Web sites. Note that both Home Depot and Target are selling "real" furniture.
Another significant trend coming out of market is a growing awareness of the business potential of a total home furnishings approach, based largely on how consumers shop for their homes.
Significant numbers of furniture resources were featuring home textiles, rugs, lighting and accessories with their major April introductions. In some cases, the non-furniture items were dedicated specifically to a furniture collection, and available only through the furniture supplier.
And some home collections were planned in part for traditional furniture store distribution, but also with a broader selection of products such as bed linens and tabletop in other channels.
Either way, it's refreshing to see the efforts being put forward in this arena.
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