Furniture stores still key growth channel for rug resources
By Lissa Wyman -- Furniture Today, April 23, 2007
High Point — Rug resources exhibiting at the spring market here remain optimistic about furniture store business, despite spotty retail sales in the past year. They believe furniture stores are turning to rugs as a way to generate add-on sales.
"Business is very tough out there for all retailers, and people are looking for new ways to build sales," said Miresco President Amir Mireskandari. "Adding new product categories, such as rugs, is one strategy that seems to work."
Miresco, in a new showroom here, had success with its Trump Home rugs, which coordinate with the new licensed Lexington furniture program with Donald Trump. "The Trump Home program drove a lot of furniture retailers into our showroom," said Mireskandari. "Once they were here, we had the opportunity to show them our Miresco lines."
Other major rug vendors also are making a play for furniture store business by participating in high-profile branding programs.
Nourison recently introduced its Liz Claiborne line of rugs, and Julie Rosenblum, Nourison's brand manager, said it helped open new business. She stressed that, in order to grow, the company must look beyond its core business.
Meanwhile, the earlier timing of High Point seemed to change shopping patterns, said John Feizy, president of Feizy Rugs. "It used to be that people came to market early and left early," he said. "But this time, our busiest days were toward the end of the week."
He predicted the rest of the year generally will be better for furniture than the first quarter. "We are already seeing signs of an upturn," he said, "but the competition is very tough."
Feizy said his company's strategy is to continue to pour out a steady stream of high-fashion products, adding, "Retailers are not asking for less-expensive items; they are looking for color and design that represents real value for the consumer."
Jonathon Witt, executive vice president of marketing at Sphinx by Oriental Weavers, acknowledged that business is tough, but said buyers here weren't discouraged. "People were feeling pretty good about the rest of the year," he said. "They're working harder for the business."
And retailers were looking for better-quality merchandise, Witt said.
Ali Momeni, a principal of Momeni, said traffic was slower than usual at the spring market, but the event remains important because it "gives us an opportunity to solidify our relationship with the furniture business. It's also our most important market for picking up new international customers."
Many rug vendors consider furniture stores their No. 1 growth channel.
"Our business has been increasing in double digits for the past three years, and furniture stores represent a good part of that growth," said Samir Abu Hadba, general manager of United Weavers of America.
Yavar Rafieha, vice president of sales and marketing at Abbyson, said his company was pleased with the market. "We saw a lot of quality accounts," he said. "We saw a lot of major retailers, and they were from both the East Coast and the West."
Safavieh's showroom featured both rugs and furniture, with the front windows devoted to the Martha Stewart rug collection, introduced in January. That brought in the buyers, said Cyrus Yaraghi, a Safavieh principal.
Surya Rugs has a branded program with Rowe Furniture, private labeling with other major furniture makers, and also sells directly to furniture stores.
"The key to our success with the furniture business is that we coordinate our colors with upholstery trends," said Joan Catello, Surya's vice president of national accounts. "Now we are branching out into pillows that coordinate with our rugs. We had a fabulous reception to the new program."
Asha Chaudhary, CEO of Jaipur Rugs, said, "We are going into the furniture store category in a big way. We had a lot of appointments, so even though the traffic in general was spotty, we were swamped."
