Toronto hopes for healthy traffic
By Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, January 8, 2006
Toronto — Business may have been tough in the last quarter of 2005, but manufacturers, importers and other vendors taking part in this weekend's Canadian Home Furnishings Market here still expect strong retail attendance.
They hope merchandisers will have a burning need to differentiate themselves with new product as the 2006 campaign gets under way.
Most executives doubt that the second Las Vegas market — due to open two weeks after Toronto's Jan. 14–17 run — will have much effect on attendance here. Rather, the turnout is expected to reflect business conditions.
"We're getting some reports that some dealers won't be attending," said Roger Friesen, senior vice president of sales and merchandising for Palliser Furniture. "But then, the open-to-buy is always limited when business slows down."
However, when business is slow, retailers can have a powerful incentive to look to differentiate their sales floors with new, exciting product. Exhibitors at the CHFM are planning a full slate of product introductions either brand new, or the Canadian launch of goods first seen in High Point in October, or a preview of what will be shown in Las Vegas.
"We're pretty excited about Toronto. We'll be offering a good balance of successful product from High Point and some new product we haven't shown anywhere before," Friesen said.
He said Palliser's offerings will cover the spectrum, from improvements to its import/warehouse program to an expanded Horizon upholstery line to a new domestically produced casual dining program.
"Toronto is still quite important and we're not reducing our emphasis on Toronto at all," said Rick Verjee, executive vice president of importer Hamilton & Spill. "It's possible that people will only be going to one show a year in the future — but Vegas won't be one of them. If anything, for Canadian retailers it will be High Point and Toronto. There won't be any big fallout from Las Vegas."
He said the main issue for the market remains conditions at retail.
"Business isn't great. For the last 90 days at least, inventory levels have been very high at retail and we're hoping December sales are higher, meaning retailers will have some open-to-buy when they get to Toronto," Verjee said.
Guy Sisto, president of upholstery house Brentwood Classics, said that business at the lower price points eased off in the second half of 2005, but he believes the CHFM presents an opportunity to carve out a niche in the better and best price points.
"The upper end is still selling well for us," Sisto said.
He believes the Las Vegas market won't be a meaningful platform for Canadian manufacturers or retailers for some time.
"My take on Las Vegas is that it's a wonderful place to go to a show and take in all of the entertainment," he said. "But unless you're shipping to the U.S., it doesn't make much sense to show there."
"We're expecting reasonable attendance (in Toronto)," said Laine Reynolds, vice president of upholstery house Superstyle Furniture. "We're not concerned about placements because what we really want is exposure.... We want retailers to see the new things we have to offer."
For importers, one big issue is inventory management — controlling the flow of goods to ensure that there's enough product on hand to meet demand.
"The most common challenge we've seen over the past six to eight months is retailers struggling with the flow of their containers," H&S's Verjee said. "Both big and small retailers are having these problems and it comes from paying attention to the flow of goods. You have to watch your sales daily and react, because if you need to postpone or cancel an order, you can't do it when the goods are on the water."
While new product will be front and center for Hamilton & Spill this weekend, Verjee said the company also will devote time to helping retailers manage the flow of goods.
"Our focus is going to be on small-quantity orders and mixed warehouse containers offering a variety of product," he said.
Manufacturer and importer executives also said that while retail has been soft, most Canadian economic trends still lean strongly in the industry's favor: interest rates are low, housing remains strong, unemployment is at a 30-year low, and personal disposable income continues to rise.
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Toronto hopes for healthy traffic
Jan 9, 2006
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