Lean stocks boost Tupelo buying
By Gary Evans and Ray Allegrezza -- Furniture Today, August 24, 2009
Tupelo, Miss. — Order writing was heavier than usual at the Tupelo Furniture Market here Aug. 14–16, manufacturers said.
Most attributed the action to retailers who were beginning to rebuild lean inventories for what they expect will be an uptick in their business.
Dealers visited the Catnapper showroom "in survival mode and crying 'help,'" according to Don Hunter, senior vice president. "They're pretty lean and needed some goods."
Hunter said the company expected dealers to be at market with dwindling inventories, prompting the company to offer four new motion groups and four freestanding recliners.
"We wanted to have goods on the shelves" to help retailers prepare for the upcoming selling season, Hunter said.
Supplier 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 orders, 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, some showing up days before the market's official opening, exhibitors said. Tupelo is long known as a source of value-oriented products — some offered only during market days — that stores can feature in their merchandising and advertising programs.
Jeff Hosking of Columbus, Ohio-based Top 100 store PMD Furniture Direct was at the show looking for strong values and new products and finding both. He and others said they believed business had picked up during the past few weeks and were placing orders as a result.
Joseph Ngo, a principal at case goods and upholstery source Crown Mark, said "lots of dealers" visited his showroom early, anxious to rack up bargains. 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 has 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 had with many of his customers.
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 and saw 75 accounts who came early, said Jeff Wallner, vice president. "Even better, these were not tire-kickers — these people wrote orders."
Upholstery vendor Albany Inds. said the company saw customers as early as Wednesday, Aug. 12, and by Thursday had been visited by 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.
James Bond, vice president of logistics for Eagle Inds., said he wouldn't describe market traffic as heavy but called it "very steady" with dealers coming to the showroom to write orders.
Lane was showing in the Tupelo market complex for the first time, rather than exhibiting in its own freestanding showroom. Because of the move, Lane President Greg Roy said it was hard to compare the results with previous markets.
"But I can tell you we had big retailers including Dillard's and Lacks Valley and others that I know that if we had not shown here, we would not have written this much business on the road," he said.
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 show far exceeded his expectations.
"Everyone was looking for a deal," he said, "but nobody came into the showroom saying, 'Take me to your cheapest corner.'"
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