Home office adapts to how we work
By Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, April 30, 2007
High Point — While the booming electronics revolution has left a sizable footprint in home entertainment, stirring a wave of product innovation such as plasma-lift consoles, its little brother home office has treaded more cautiously.
There's no question that home office furniture is equally tied to technology in terms of its design and functionality. But the category is a little slower to adapt to the latest electronic developments, preferring to make sure there is going to be proven demand for a given feature before making major introductions.
Still, home office continues to be based on the ever-changing way people work, leading sources say.
One need that is currently emerging on the home office front is providing an easy-to-use, central location for charging cell phones, laptops or iPods. The challenge is organizing function in a focused and organized way, said Sligh Chairman Rob Sligh.
Introduced at the Fall 2006 High Point Market, Sligh's Family Communication Center is a laptop docking station with power, Internet and data ports. The piece includes a charging station for hand-held devices and a removable back panel provides easy access to wall outlets. Other features include built-in task lighting, tack-boards and ample storage.
This space-efficient piece is designed to fit in a variety of rooms and perform lots of functions, said Sligh. Consumers use it as a base for checking e-mails, posting notes, paying bills and doing work. But the functionality also crosses over into family gathering, thanks to a gathering height desk surface, gathering height stool and iPod charging dock.
The product was featured on NBC's "Today" show in a home-of-the-future segment.
Plugging in laptops
To adapt to changing consumer habits, about a year-and-a-half ago, laptop ports, with power, Internet and data connections, became standard features on all Sligh credenzas. The feature also was retroactively fitted to existing credenzas.
Some Sligh pieces also feature items like surge suppressors, phone jacks, and remote on/off switches.
Sligh said modular systems are the company's fastest-growing home office category, with sales about 25% versus a year ago. Sligh said consumers like such configurations because of their flexibility.
"Modular home office furniture — what we call the lower-profile modular — has various SKUs that can be assembled any way you want," said Sligh. "You can put together your room, the way you want it to fit your lifestyle."
Another company that has continually looks to keep its home office products current with emerging consumer needs is Aspenhome. Several of the company's introductions this year have addressed changing areas in the home and a desire to integrate family and work lives.
Convergence is the theme of the company's Liv360 cocktail table. This piece includes an adjustable lift-top table and storage space for laptops, pens, paperclips, file folders and other desk accessories. It provides a setting for office work, homework, snacks and quick meals.
"More and more people do not have a designated area set up just for a home office," said Ken Levi, home office and entertainment designer for Aspenhome. "At times, they work close to the family activity and at other times they need quiet undistributed space. Their biggest need is flexibility."
The standout new functional feature that Hooker introduced at the March market was a flip-top charging station in its modular Danforth home office group. But style remains a key selling point for the company.
Gadget nation
"Whether it's the piece itself or the charging station — it's probably a little bit of both (that made the introduction so successful). The fact that everybody's got so many gadgets today is really what's driving home office," said Hank Long, senior vice president of merchandising and design.
At the March High Point Market, Hooker also brought out two new rolltop desks.
This is a product that has seen little activity in recent years due to the prevalence of larger CPUs and monitors on many Americans' desktops.
But rolltop desks could represent an area of growth for the company, since they're suitable for flat monitors and laptops. And they offer a stylish alternative to conventional desks that is appealing to some consumers.
Adapting product to the changing electronics environment doesn't necessarily mean it will stick once it hits retail. About two years ago, for example, Hooker created a lift mechanism for desk monitors similar to the flat-screen television lifts that are popular on console units.
Hooker's concept was that office visitors could keep the computer screen up during work and lower the unit when people gathered in the office, Long said. For a desk that would have been $900 wholesale without the lift, the mechanism drove the price up to $1,599. Although lift mechanism prices have since come down, it was still too steep an increase for consumers, Long said.
Like Hooker, Stanley also takes a design-based approach to home office, emphasizing looks that coordinate with entertainment and other furnishings in its whole home collections.
Over the last few years, Stanley has added more electrical outlets and laptop ports to its hutches and desks, and also installed built-in rails in the bottom of pieces for charging devices.
But, according to Kelly Cain, vice president and product manager, the company doesn't spend as much time these days worrying about making cabinet holes large enough to fit the biggest CPU towers.
Those spaces are still there, but consumers now can opt for adjustable shelves, which provide more function and flexibility. Where many of today's customers need less space for towers, Cain said they need more space to put multi-task printers.
"We don't spend as much time on that type of thing," Cain said.
"We make the desk really functional and look really good. The consumer still wants somewhere to put their printer, but doesn't have as much (other) equipment."
Cain also reported that modular and smaller home office settings are starting do better.
