Sometimes, black & white is best
Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, May 7, 2007
High Point — Many occasional resources are using bright colors to liven up the category.
But the formula doesn't necessarily work in every collection.
Magnussen Home, for example, has applied bright colors to some individual items in its quick-ship Accents Express program. Yet, when it launched Provence under that umbrella in October 2006, the company stuck with the basic option of a black or white finish.
The collection includes 12 pieces in each finish for a total of 24 SKUs. The company considered adding a bright green, red or turquoise to that same group and later dropped the idea in favor of just black and white. At the time, that's where officials projected most of the collection's sales would occur, and that launching another color wouldn't have a great impact on the program.
"The colors are great in terms of what they bring to a room and the sparkle that they give it," said Karen Knoch, Magnussen's merchandise manager for occasional tables and accents. "We created the black and white collection because it's that much more versatile."
In particular, she noted that it's often easier for consumers to match a black and white accent piece in a room setting.
"The black and white were better for our purposes," she added. "They are more universally accepted and work in more homes."
