Wood sources target lifestyle segment
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, March 25, 2007
High Point — Contemporary furniture will be hot this market, as several companies are bringing out new collections designed to appeal to younger consumers.
A number of the groups are casual contemporary designs, while others have a more classic look. And, in some cases, the new products are lifestyle designs aimed squarely at the types of consumers who shop specialty stores like Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, West Elm, Pier One, Restoration Hardware and Z Gallerie.
Many industry veterans are surprised at how generic some of the furniture is that does so well at the lifestyle specialists.
"The lifestyle stores, they all have simple, basic product," said Lee Boone, president of Legacy Classic. "It's fairly uninteresting product, but they display it in a way that is interesting."
Boone said Legacy Classic and other manufacturers offer similar product (often at a lower price), but that either the exhibitor showrooms or the retail showrooms aren't displayed as effectively. To attract lifestyle consumers, the manufacturer should provide styling and accessorizing tips to the retailers to help them prepare appealing displays.
The fact that most specialty stores are located in high-traffic locations, such as malls, gives them an advantage, said Bill Carpenter, president of Lifestyle Solutions by Elite. While a furniture store needs a big area to display its many lines, Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel may sacrifice size or selection in order to rent a space in a mall where people are constantly walking past and seeing their window displays, according to Carpenter.
That kind of real estate is expensive, which is why the stores must charge more than a typical furniture retailer, Carpenter said. But consumers like the convenience of being able to buy furniture, dinnerware and accents all in one place.
In an effort to give consumers a high degree of perceived value, many traditional case goods sources have loaded up their designs with carvings and embellishments — overlooking the opportunity that lifestyle looks present with the younger crowd.
"The temptation when you are dealing with an Asian manufacturer is to carve the heck out of it — impress people with the details," said Geoff Beaston, president and CEO of Fine Furniture Design & Marketing. While the designer thinks he is creating value, the consumer may think the furniture is gaudy and unattractive, he said.
At FFDM, the emphasis is on quality construction and finishes rather than carvings, Beaston added.
In some cases, Chinese factories are looking for shortcuts to take cost out of the product, but then use carvings as a way to add perceived value, said Carpenter. By contrast, lifestyle designs may look cleaner and simpler, but that doesn't mean they have to be cheap.
Bernhardt also offers high-end looks that could appeal to the lifestyle specialty fan. The company noted that East Hampton, part of its Martha Stewart Living line, has a youthful, soft contemporary appeal, as does its British Passages and Market Street collections.
To reach younger consumers, companies must identify the shoppers' needs and how to get their own message out to these people. Then they can pass along the right product and an informed marketing story to retailers, said Karen Knoch, Magnussen Home's merchandise manager for occasional.
Some of Magnussen's recent case goods offerings were designed with Generation Y in mind, including Maison, Mercer and Kensley, Knoch said. Having young people on staff — like Nathan Cressman, vice president of merchandising and design, who is in his 30s — helps the company better understand this consumer, she said.
"You can't be lifestyle unless you've got offerings in multiple categories," said Glenn Prillaman, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Stanley Furniture. The consumer wants to be able to decorate an entire room and possibly multiple rooms in the same style, he said. Having a full line of case goods gives retailers an advantage over the specialty stores, which don't have the space to display that many pieces.
One challenge that retailers face is maintaining the proper look on their floors, said one manufacturer. Sales reps and factory designers can help the store create displays that look like they can from a shelter magazine, but that put-together feeling often only lasts a couple of weeks.
By that time, the accessories that were meticulously picked over have been sold right off the floor and less suitable replacements were put back. New furniture gets moved into the area, and the original design of the area is ruined.
The retailers try, but their job is to sell furniture, and most just don't have the manpower to keep their floors in top shape, said the executive. And lifestyle specialty stores don't sell accessories off the tables because they have everything in stock, which a furniture store might not have room to do.
With the right furniture, however, retailers do have a way of competing with these specialty stores.
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