UPDATE: Lean inventories spur buying at Tupelo Furniture Market

Retailers also report an uptick in business

Ray Allegrezza , Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, August 17, 2009

TUPELO, Miss. — Manufacturers closed out the semiannual Tupelo Furniture Market here last week noting that lean retail inventories helped Tupelo regain its reputation as an order-writing market.

Several major retailers attending the Tupelo Furniture Market picked up Jackson Furniture’s 98-inch triple leg sofa in heavy chenille to retail at $699.

Dealers visited the showroom "in survival mode and crying ‘help,'" according to Don Hunter, senior vice president of motion resource Catnapper. "They're pretty lean and needed some goods."

Hunter said the company expected inventories to be lean, which prompted it to offer four new motion groups and four freestanding recliners at the market, which officially got under way Friday but began seeing buyers three days earlier.

"We wanted to have goods on the shelves" to help retailers prepare for the upcoming selling season, Hunter said.

Huffman Koos had a great response "from basically everybody," said Mike Salazar, vice president of operations. At one point, business was so brisk that reps didn't have time to process them, Salazar said. "I went home with a $40,000 order in my pocket that I didn't have time to turn in," he said.

He added, "Customers were lean. We knew they were going to buy if we gave them promotions."

With the uptick in business, dealers seemed less reluctant to make commitments but were still seeking out bargains and promotions, exhibitors said. Tupelo is long known as a source of valued-oriented merchandise that stores can feature in their merchandising and advertising programs.

Jeff Hosking of Columbus, Ohio-based Top 100 retailer PMD — who won the National Buyer Appreciation Award at the market — was at the show looking for strong values and new products and finding both. He and others at market said they believe business had picked up during the past few weeks, and were writing orders as a result.

Joseph Ngo, a principal at case goods and upholstery source Crown Mark, confirmed that "lots of dealers have already been in" by opening day morning. Among the key buyers were those from Big Lots, Value City, Bob's Discount Furniture and PMD.

V.M. Cleveland, CEO of the Tupelo Furniture Market, said he too had noticed a rising optimism in the industry.

"We had close to 40 new exhibitors including Lane, World Imports, Huffman Koos and others who have taken big showrooms and invested thousands of dollars in renovations," he said.

Glen Wakefield, president of case goods and upholstery source Largo International, said the top message from buyers in Tupelo was: "Show me the deals." Show specials, rather than styles or categories, were the center of conversations Wakefield has had with many of his customers.

"We are writing orders and coupled with the fact that this is a very economical show to participate in, I am pleased," he said.

In addition to the new exhibitors, the Tupelo Furniture Market also welcomed the return of exhibitors such as Broyhill, Sandberg, Stein World and American Mattress.

First-time exhibitor World Imports got off to a solid start, even before the market's opening bell.

"On Thursday, the day before the show officially opened, we saw 75 accounts," Jeff Wallner, vice president, said. "Even better, these are not tire-kickers — these people wrote orders."

Upholstery vendor Albany Inds. said the company began seeing customers as early as Wednesday, and by Thursday had seen several majors. "With a couple of majors, we've managed to either get new placements or work on new projects" for the upcoming season, said Brian Einhorn, vice president of global sales and marketing.

Another new exhibitor, and a new Mississippi-based company, was Fusion Furniture, which will produce upholstery in the $399 to $599 retail price points. President Bo Robbins said the Tupelo far exceeded his expectations.

"Obviously, everyone is looking for a deal," he said. "But nobody is coming in saying, ‘Take me to your cheapest corner.'"