Traffic down at Tupelo market
Definite impact from Vegas
Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, August 19, 2005
TUPELO, Miss. -- July's Las Vegas market appeared to take a bite out of this week's Tupelo market, with attendance down noticeably.
Despite that, several manufacturers said they expected to end the week here with business comparable to past markets.
With only three weeks between Tupelo and Las Vegas, Bill Cleveland, president of the Tupelo market, said several vendors were relieved that turnout wasn't lower.
“All of us expected the Vegas venue to have some impact. At this point, I’m pleased that the impact seems to be as small as it is,” he said.
Cleveland said late Thursday that his guess was attendance was down at least 10% from last August. Some showroom counts put it closer to 30%.
Nonetheless, most exhibitors said they were seeing most of their big accounts, and that the dropoff was from smaller dealers who couldn’t swing two markets in such a short time.
Hugh Hargett, vice president of sales at United Furniture, said the company had the biggest order-writing day Tuesday — two days before the official opening here — of any day since he has been with the company.
“We could stop right now in written and programmed orders and still be successful,” Hargett said late Thursday.
While the market officially opened Thursday, Wednesday traditionally has been a working day in Tupelo and the “unofficial opening” of the weeklong event. At Standard Furniture, early indications pointed to softer attendance than usual, but Vice President of Sales Todd Evans wasn’t singing the blues.
“We expected a good market,” he said. “We expected our total traffic to be down 30%, but the quality is good. We haven’t been sitting around looking at the floor today.”
With no big changes in the recent soft environment in retail, exhibitors here wondered if “buyer shock” after an order-writing frenzy in Las Vegas would affect business in Tupelo.
Standard, for example, had a spike in business from Las Vegas. The company’s weekly orders average $5 million to $6 million, but hit $8.4 million the week after Vegas and $7.8 million the next week.
Lee Scott, national sales manager for Harden Mfg., said the company had seen a number of majors by Wednesday.
“We are definitely seeing all the people we normally see here,” he said, adding that the company’s business has been strong across the board — in occasional, entertainment, domestic bedroom and imports.
Scott said the company has entered a new pricing tier on its upper end, and also broadened its import program in Tupelo with a bedroom and two dining rooms — a new category. Harden also introduced three U.S.-made bedrooms.
Market President Cleveland said Tupelo is positioning itself as the “value market,” retouching its reputation as a venue for promotional goods. Videos extolling market promotions played in building lobbies, and signs furnished by the market proclaimed Tupelo Only Specials, which the market abbreviated “TO$.”
“We devoted 400 square feet to the TO$ promotion,” said Bill Benton, president of importer Powell Co. “We pulled the guns out, had tremendous offers from dealers and sold a lot of furniture.”
Said Paul Coscarelli of APA Marketing, “Tupelo is a great market for us. We always bring specials because dealers who come here are motivated by specials. We do a lot of business here.”
*Case Goods Editor Powell Slaughter, Editor-in-Chief Ray Allegrezza and Fabric Editor Susan M. Andrews contributed to this story.
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