Furniture invades tech show
By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, October 3, 2005
Indianapolis — Furniture producers hoping to grab a piece of the white-hot home theater category showed up in force at a major electronics show here earlier this month, aiming to take advantage of the sales opportunities the category offers.
The show, sponsored by CEDIA, the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Assn., focused on the latest in consumer electronics and related products. However, furniture producers who exhibited here said electronics retailers are paying more attention to furniture in order to make their business a one-stop shop for consumers.
Plus, they can attain margins that are unheard of in consumer electronics.
"This is still a 'want' purchase, not a 'need' purchase, so price isn't as much of an issue," said Tom Enns, merchandise manager for motion upholstery at Canadian-based Palliser.
"The dealers here are more interested in getting good service and a good product."
Palliser was one of more than 30 furniture exhibitors at the show, which drew about 25,000 people to the Indiana Convention Center and adjoining RCA Dome, a facility better known as the home of the National Football League's Indianapolis Colts.
Many furniture exhibitors were producers who sell almost exclusively to consumer electronics retailers, but the roster also included several mainstream manufacturers who primarily sell to furniture stores.
"We're here to learn as much as we are to sell," said Hank Long, executive vice president of Hooker, a major case goods resource that made its CEDIA debut. "I think we're seeing some pretty innovative products here."
Other mainstream producers here included upholstery resources Flexsteel and Douglas, and case goods resources Laurier and Encore.
In addition, upper-end leather upholstery producers Omnia and W. Schillig produce seating on a private-label basis for exhibitors Premiere and Cinema Tech, respectively.
"It was an excellent show for us. There was very good traffic," said Simon Perreault, director of marketing for Laurier, another Canadian-based manufacturer.
Producers said the vast majority of the buyers at the show specialized in custom installations of home theaters, home automation systems and related products. They're dealing with consumers willing to spend $10,000 to over $100,000 for their custom-designed media rooms.
"The consumer doesn't go into one of these stores and ask for a TV, or a wall unit, or a seat. They want home theater," said Paul Coscarelli, a partner in APA Marketing, which distributes the Encore line.
Coscarelli said Encore is hiring a separate sales force for the consumer electronics channel because the needs of those dealers are significantly different from traditional furniture stores.
Few electronics dealers stock furniture, he said, and most want to get it shipped within days of placing an order.
"If you're going after the consumer electronics business, you've got to be able to ship quickly," said Bob Gingras, director of marketing for JSP Inds., a Canadian case goods producer that sells primarily to electronics dealers.
Companies like JSP, whose upper-end wall units retail for $1,999 to $2,999, "are part of the solution now" after years of being a logistical roadblock for retailers seeking to quickly install a home theater, according to Gingras.
"We focus on design, function and quick delivery," he said. "What we're really good at is taking care of the customer."
At the CEDIA show, case goods resources focused on cabinetry that would complement the flat-screen and wide-format TVs that rapidly are gaining market share. Many have developed credenza-like stands that can accommodate external speakers and components such as a DVD player.
Many flat-screen models are designed to be wall-mounted, but exhibitors said they increasingly are encountering consumer resistance to such mountings (see sidebar above). That's why stands with lift mechanisms such as those recently developed by Hooker and Encore are gaining in popularity.
Upholstery resources, meanwhile, turned their product spotlight on comfort and convenience features such as power reclining mechanisms and visco-elastic foam cushioning.
"The vast majority of the orders we get are for seats with power," said Maribel Leon, a partner in United Leather USA, a three-year-old, upper-end leather resource making its CEDIA show debut.
Noteworthy product introductions from upholstery producers included:
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A reclining chair from Body Sound Technologies that had speakers and an amplifier built into the chair. The configuration allows TV sound to resonate through the user's body. Other features included a device that keeps sound at a constant level, which would, for example, automatically lower the volume for commercials that are louder than the program. The chairs retail for $2,499 to $3,499.
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Summit Seating used a new suede-like vinyl cover called Texuede on several new reclining chairs. Executives said the new cover is far more durable and softer than other faux suede materials, but it retains the low-maintenance features that originally made faux suede a hit with consumers.
Key introductions from case goods resources included:
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Laurier's U-turn TV stand that features a swivel base for shelves that house components. Executives said it makes installation and wire management much easier.
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JPG's credenza-like stand with a back panel for mounting plasma TVs and other flat-screen models. Executives said this allows consumers to avoid drilling holes in walls for mounting.
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Salamander Designs had a similar stand with a back panel, but its model included speaker mounts. Many newer plasma TVs have detachable side speakers.
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Reversica unveiled a patent-pending mechanism that allows a flat-screen TV to be mounted inside a cabinet and then swivel 360 degrees.
