Upholstery sources pleased by High Point premarket activity

See glimmers of hope in recent retail business

Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, September 17, 2009

A new sofa from Bradington-Young’s Envision collection features a curved frame and a two-seat design.

HIGH POINT — Upholstery producers enjoyed a quiet, but successful premarket this week as they welcomed dealers who appeared eager to replenish inventories with new products and innovative styles.

Most product introductions got a stamp of approval from at least some of the buyers on hand, which producers said gave them the confidence to proceed full-bore for next month's market.

Their confidence also was boosted by a smattering of reports of an uptick in business.

"We've seen an uptick in our order pattern the past eight weeks or so, and that gives us reason for optimism," said David Stewart, vice president of sales and operations at leather upholstery resource W. Schillig.

Despite that glimmer of hope, Stewart and other upholstery executives said some dealers were reluctant to make large commitments, preferring to focus on items that are warehoused or manufactured domestically.

"With that business model, dealers can get everything they need in a hurry," said Michael Parasmo, CEO of Prestige Motion, which is set to open its first U.S. warehouse later this month near Cleveland. "And if they do commit to full containers, this provides the back-up stock they need."

Prestige was one of several upholstery showrooms highlighting a variety of new colors in both leather and fabric covers.

On the fabric side, colorful coastal and southwest patterns seemed especially popular, while leather colors in various shades of teal, gray, orange and blue were early winners.

"We felt this (leather) category needs more color," said Mike Delgatti, executive vice president of merchandising at Bradington-Young. "The predominant colors have always been brown, brown and brown."

Bradington-Young was one of several upholstery resources who appeared primed for an aggressive product rollout at next month's market.

A key thrust for Bradington-Young will be the Envision line, which features all-leather sofas retailing for $1,599 to $1,999, or at least $300 below the company's previous starting price point.

A new collection at similar price points also was previewed at Leather Italia, which typically focuses on more promotional items, while middle to upper-end resource Chateau d'Ax showed dealers 18 new frames that could freshen up their stores.

"Since we're never going to be the cheapest guy out there, we have to be more aggressive in terms of product," said Harry Cierler, director of North American operations at Chateau d'Ax.

Motion was a key element in several product rollouts from upholstery resources that typically don't emphasize motion, notably W.Schillig, Kincaid and Bernhardt.

W. Schillig and Kincaid are both debuting recliner lines, while Bernhardt showed dealers new upscale motion seating groups.