Larger uph. vendors do better
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, August 29, 2005
Tupelo, Miss. — Larger upholstery producers seemed to fare better than smaller vendors at the just-concluded Tupelo summer market.
With attendance apparently reduced by the new Las Vegas market held three weeks earlier, bigger companies like United, Ashley, Caye and Genesis/Artisan said they saw most of their large accounts, which shop Tupelo for promotional furniture and specials.
But smaller upholstery makers, including a number of factories in the Tupelo area, said that many smaller dealers simply didn't come.
"You looked around and saw that attendance was down," said Kurt Kelly, sales manager of Tupelo-based Prime Designs. "I think a lot of people who decided to go out to Las Vegas to look around decided not to come here."
Kelly said Prime "wrote some business and saw some new accounts," and profited from introductions that included a microfiber sofa and matching ottoman at $599 to $699 retail.
"We knocked it off from China and we're selling it cheaper," Kelly said. "You can order it Monday and get it the next week instead of four months."
At Pontotoc, Miss.-based Genesis/Artisan, Tim Mueller, vice president and director of marketing, said, "It's hard for us to tell (about attendance) since we deal with truckload buyers.
"We've never lived on showroom counts. We missed only two of our majors. But if the body count is down all over the market, it will eventually affect us," he said.
Genesis/Artisan emphasized leather look and fabric combos in Tupelo, with three new frames in traditional and contemporary styling at $599 to $799 retail. "That seems to be an emerging category. It's very big right now," he said.
Mueller said the company wasn't feeling pressure to show in Las Vegas. "Six out of seven major buyers said that, as far as an upholstery market, Las Vegas was a bust," he said.
Jordan Alexander, a midpriced custom-order house in Hickory, N.C., was in Tupelo for the first time to support its sales reps in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky, said company executive Andre Teague.
"As a trial market, it's been good," Teague said early in the market. "We've opened about 14 or 15 accounts so far. We will open 40 because there's nobody like us here," referring to Jordan Alexander's eight-way hand-tied construction at retail price points of $899 to $1,499. He declined to say whether the company would return to Tupelo.
Ty Hester, vice president of sales and marketing for Albany, Miss.-based Caye Home Furnishings, which includes Simmons Upholstery, Stratford and Homewood International, said market business "was surprisingly strong for us. We had good success with new motion programs and even greater success with our leather direct program.
"We gauged no impact from Vegas," he continued. "We've been fortunate, but only time will tell (if the Vegas market will affect Tupelo)."
President Andy Nguyen and Vice President Tony Ly of Houston International said they saw a lot of interest here from retailers and manufacturers in their line of China-made upholstery.
The company imports classic traditional and transitional styles with ornate wood frames and silk, leather and leather/fabric combinations. Houston, which covers the East while its sister company, Las Vegas International, covers the West, sells by container with an average retail price for a sofa, loveseat and chair of $2,299 to $2,499. It also warehouses for smaller orders.
Houston currently has about 30 collections. "Every market we come with four to six new sets," said Ly. "Every market gets better for us. We write up new clients, so that's a good sign for us."
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