Home office vendors offer new styles, technologies
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, January 29, 2006
Las Vegas — Home office vendors will have a variety of new styles and technologies to show off here this week in hopes of generating more interest — and sales — in the category.
The list of vendors includes some prominent, well-known players as well as newer companies that see promise in home office.
Odyssey International, an importer that opened last June, is capitalizing on the strengths of its Chinese parent company to market a line that uses metal, glass and wood components.
The line includes a $199 L-shaped, metal-and-glass desk and a $79 computer tower with pewter-finished metal and light oak laminate materials. It also will show a $99 swivel-tilt chair with leather or microfiber cover and wood arms.
Outdoor specialist KNF Designs is delving into indoor with a new metal-and-glass line of file cabinets and bookshelves with hip, vibrant finishes such as apricot and pistachio. The domestically produced goods range from an apricot file cabinet that retails for $450 to a $1,500 hutch with drawers or lateral file cabinet in the pistachio finish.
Rug source Safavieh Home Furnishings is launching a home furnishings division here with two home office products, including the $995 Melissa secretary and $1,195 Essex writing desk. Both are available in seven finishes.
Signature Home Furnishings, which first moved into home office about two years ago, has an aggressive launch planned with three new 17-piece home office collections. Available in hazelnut, burl pecan and crotch mahogany finishes, these additions bring Signature's total number of home office groups to seven.
"It has come out of the hopper just like a race horse," said National Sales Manager Raymond Carringer. "That is why we came out with three new groups."
With 72-inch executive desks retailing as low as $999 container-direct, the three groups also have 66-inch and 48-inch hutch and credenza units, a three-piece bookcase wall, and seven-piece workstation. The desk units are functional in nature, each with pull-out laptop/keyboard drawers and built-in power supplies.
The desks also have curved corners, a design element that Carringer believes sets them apart.
"It looks like furniture as opposed to just a commercial desk, but it does all the same things as a commercial desk," he said.
Creative Ideas also has some unique design elements coming out this market. They include a new 86-inch-wide receptionist desk retailing at $4,500 that can double as an executive desk without the hutch.
The product's left- and right-hand drawers are positioned at an angle off the center kneespace area of the desk. That shape allows three people to sit in front of each panel facing the person seated at the desk, versus two in a traditional executive desk format.
"The shape of it is pretty neat," said Steve Balsamo, president of Creative Ideas. "We are showing it in the front of the showroom as a reception desk and in front of a bookcase."
The desks, part of the company's four Signature lines, are available in 14 finishes. They also have plenty of functional elements, ranging from a fold-down laptop/keyboard drawer to four utility drawers and two locking file drawers.
Other prominent home office vendors also have plenty to offer this market.
They include Aspen Furniture, which is bringing out a new product called the Nano-Desk, a 48-inch laptop unit. This piece is being added to the Napa, Chateau De Vin, Chambord, Skyline and Young Classics lines. Aspen also is launching new writing desks for each of these collections.
Kathy Ireland Home by Martin Furniture is launching a transitional-style, mission-inspired group called Mission Hills. It is made from oak solids and ash veneers and has a burnished finish that is lighter than a typical mission finish.
Including a $999 executive desk, there are about 20 SKUs in the collection. These include writing desks, credenza and hutch units, bookcases and a lateral file. The group also has L-shaped desk formats, including L-shaped writing desks, that accommodate rolling file cabinets.
Martin also is launching a revised version of its Capitol Hill group, which now includes three 72-inch, executive-sized desks and incorporates task lighting in the hutch units.
Made from alder solids and cherry and prima vera ash burl veneers, the group continues to place Martin in higher price points with executive desks retailing at $1,499.
"That is where the consumer is responding," said Karl Eulberg, vice president of sales. "Higher price points are selling better than middle or starter price points in home office, which is really a wonderful thing."
While companies such as Creative Ideas and Martin tout design and a solid-wood story at higher price points, other companies are emphasizing innovation at much lower price points.
This group includes Leda Home Furnishings, which is offering its Leda Lock system on five contemporary-style, ready-to-assemble introductions this market.
The locking system allows consumers to snap pieces together in a matter of minutes as opposed to using bolts and screws that can add hours to the assembly process. Numbered stickers make it simple to mate matching parts.
"We combine technology and good design," said Joel Lin, Leda's marketing coordinator, noting the company had a half year since the last Las Vegas market to design more products that utilize this technology. "The customer will be able to see how easy the furniture can be assembled."
Leda is offering desks and hutch units ranging from $129 to $259 retail.
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Home office vendors offer new styles, technologies
Jan 30, 2006
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