Lifestyle plans big dealer bash at Pinehurst No. 2
By Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, July 31, 2006
High Point — Pinehurst No. 2, the famed North Carolina golf course that has hosted more championships than any other in the United States, will serve as the backdrop for a Lifestyle Enterprise event starting Sunday.
James Riddle, managing director for Lifestyle, said the company plans a "thank-you get-together" for its top 25 accounts to play the storied Pinehurst course.
And since the big dealers will already be at the three-day event, Riddle said, Lifestyle decided to show some new product as well. The company will have 25 new pieces in its Shanghai leather upholstery and Lifestyle case goods divisions, he said.
For all its dealers, meanwhile, the company will offer several of the Lifestyle and Shanghai pieces in an upcoming "Summer Killer" promotion. Six beds and three microfiber and faux leather sofas will each be priced at $99 wholesale, Riddle said.
"They'll be well built, well designed and very tasteful," he said. "It promises to be one of the biggest promotions in the history of the furniture industry."
The promotional product will not include the company's upper-end Forbidden City division.
For the golf event, Lifestyle will fly the dealers to the High Point area and then transport them to the Pinehurst Resort, where they will be guests of the company. Riddle declined to say how much the event would cost.
In January, Lifestyle conducted its first Forbidden City Furniture Show in High Point at an estimated cost of $500,000 to $1 million. The company offered to pay airfare and hotel expenses for the first 500 qualified buyers, and the show drew about 500 buyers from 400 dealers. The second Forbidden City show is set for Jan. 15–17.
"In January it was beyond our expectations. It was one of the biggest things this company has ever pulled off and one of the reasons we can do this (Pinehurst event) today," Riddle said.
In addition to serving retailers, the Forbidden City show is an expression of support of High Point's semiannual International Home Furnishings Market, he said. Company officials recently announced plans to invest as much as $15 million in a 100,000-square-foot expansion of its Forbidden City Museum showroom in the city, quadrupling its size.
"There's no question it's a mark of support that all ties in with the game plan to keep the furniture capital in High Point," Riddle said.
Company officials said last month they are pursuing an aggressive global strategy in the hopes of boosting annual sales to more than $1 billion in several years.
