Metal bed sources hammer out strong Vegas show
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, February 11, 2007
Las Vegas — Metal beds vendors showing at the winter market here were successful with both introductions and existing product, thanks to brisk showroom traffic.
At Fashion Bed Group, officials said opening day was about as busy as the opening day of the first market here in July 2005. This time, the company had a 16,000-square-foot space in the new Building B, about 10,000 square feet bigger than its former Building A quarters.
Fashion Bed showed about a third of its line, including four metal beds launched here, at retails of $399 to $599. The new beds, which have higher headboards than the company's traditional line, were designed with customer requests in mind, said Vicki Fil, director of product development.
"If you give people what they want, they'll buy it," she said.
The company also received strong response on three new wood and metal beds from $499 to $699 retail.
Hillsdale Furniture also had brisk traffic, with more than 600 dealers the first two days of the show — more than it has ever seen at an entire High Point Market and more than the first Las Vegas show, said co-CEO John Elting.
Still, order-writing was similar to High Point, Elting said, noting that more majors are still shopping High Point.
Buyers that shopped Hillsdale saw one of the most impressive arrays of metal beds in the market, with 60 models on display in a new 20,000-square-foot showroom in Building B. Its former 4,500-square-foot showroom in Building A showed only four beds alongside its case goods, occasional and casual dining.
Amisco said it did well here with a revised version of its contemporary Delaney metal bed, which has a black leather headboard. The bed also comes in 45 fabric options.
The company also reported strong order-writing on such items as three new transitional style beds shown in its catalog, at $349 to $399 retail.
Elliott's Designs, a manufacturer of Victorian reproduction brass beds, drew buyer interest with its Queen Anne canopy bed. The model can be configured as a four-poster bed with both short and tall posts, and three canopy options. Providing such options is one way the company is trying to distinguish itself as a domestic producer.
Wesley Allen, another domestic manufacturer and design leader, showed here for the first time this winter. Wesley Sawan, director of private branding, said the company saw retailers it hadn't seen in a while, given that its main focus has been in High Point.
Other metal bed exhibitors included Pietrarte and Benicia.
The latter showed a line of U.S.-made traditional and transitional styles, while Pietrarte offered contemporary beds, including the existing Toscana bed in a new multistep dark copper finish.
Like Amisco, Pietrarte also had a new line of complementary bedroom dressers, nightstands and other case pieces.
Pietrarte's traffic was mostly from the West Coast, including some new customers from Utah, Arizona. It also saw some new customers from the Midwest.
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Metal bed business brisk
Jan 30, 2007
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