Bedroom buyers busy at Vegas Market
Bevy of new product, programs in spotlight
Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, January 31, 2007
LAS VEGAS -- Retailers have plenty of new bedroom product and programs to check out this week as established manufacturers and growing upstarts vie for market share.
Case goods importer Tradewins said its bedroom business continues to grow, with a 20% gain last year. Ernie Starcevic, West Coast sales manager, said business has been brisk this week, with retailers still roaming the showroom at 8 p.m. Monday and others showing up as early as 7:15 a.m. Tuesday.
While retailers were in the building early, many showrooms said business was slow for the first hour or so each day as street and parking lot congestion delayed buyers. Bill Carpenter, Lifestyle Solutions president, said traffic was heavy all day after about 9 a.m. Monday and took until 10 a.m. Tuesday to pick up.
Still, he wasn’t disappointed as the case goods and motion upholstery importer stayed packed the rest of the day.
Despite all the buzz at Building B, traffic in older Building A is holding up quite nicely, exhibitors said. Lane’s Building A has been up about 20% to 25% this week compared to last July, said Ray Allori, vice president of merchandising and advertising. And they aren’t just kicking tires, he said, as Lane is writing orders.
Case goods manufacturer and importer Orleans is drawing attention with a new bedroom division, Performerz, with wood furniture at promotional pricing.
The six groups were first introduced at Tupelo. President Ed Marshall said traffic was down 10% to 20% there, but sales were good. He said he’s pleased with the traffic and orders in Las Vegas, which he thought might be down because of soft business conditions.
Orleans wants to expand in the West, but didn’t want Vegas to serve as just a regional market. Marshall said he was glad to see that 60% of visitors the first two days were from east of the Rockies.
Broyhill also is writing business to retailers from all over the country, said Fran Scheller, merchandise manager for bedroom and dining.
Vaughan-Bassett, making its Las Vegas debut this week, also has been pleased with the traffic. Doug Bassett, executive vice president of sales and marketing, said opening- day numbers looked comparable to opening day in High Point.
While it’s not showing new product here, Vaughan-Bassett does have some new catalogs that retailers can mail to consumers. The 12-page catalog shows off the company’s Cottage collection in all six finishes and gives suggested retail prices. On the back is a coupon to draw people into the store.
Lifestyle specialty retailers have taken business away from traditional furniture stores, relying heavily on advertising and catalogs, said Bassett.
This is an attempt to win back those consumers because furniture stores can offer better pricing and delivery, he said.
San Francisco-based Zocalo, meanwhile, was disappointed when its hometown show faltered because the importer has a strong independent dealer base in the West. President Jeremy Sommer said only about 5% of Zocalo’s regional retailers visit the High Point showroom, but based on appointments and phone calls, he expects to see 75% in Las Vegas this week.
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