Motion uph. producers stress personalization
By Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today, July 29, 2007
Las Vegas — An assortment of motion sofas and recliners will be out in force at the summer market here, with new product as well as encores from the spring High Point show on display.
In addition to comfort and convenience, these offerings put the spotlight on personalization, with power options and plenty of cover choices.
Six new recliners from Barcalounger will be available in fabric, leather plus, all leather or all top-grain leather, in either transitional or contemporary motifs.
New Generations, a transitional modular motion sofa, offers a wall lounger mechanism and optional one-touch power activation for a $400 upcharge. Also configured as a loveseat or a sectional, retails for the sofa start at $2,299 in fabric and $2,799 in leather.
Three-position wingchair recliners at Barcalounger include Madeira, which features transitional pillow-back styling, tapered, flared arms and a three-position lounger. Westwood is a bustle-back model with loose cushions, nailheads and welts.
Another three-way recliner is the more contemporary Le Mans, combining soft lines, track arms and loose cushions. As with Madeira and Westwood, Le Mans will retail from $799 up in fabric and $1,099 in leather.
Barcalounger's three-position Sanibel reclining chair sports a natural motif with exposed wood arms of baby rattan and wicker. It's offered in either fabric ($899 retail) or leather ($1,199).
Dutailier, meanwhile, will pre-launch its Matrix collection, a personalized glider rocker concept with height-adjustable seat and back. The clean design employs a two-pronged peg system to lock in the preferred height. Various styles are outfitted with recline and swivel functions.
A prototype will be unveiled this week in Vegas, with the official launch set for the ABC Kids Expo, also held here, in September.
Dutailier's new glider is designed to provide maximum comfort to anyone from 5 feet to 6-feet-2-inches tall. "There's a lot of novelty in this product," said Marketing Manager David Fontaine. "We are known for personalization, and this gives consumers a choice of styles, mechanism and finish."
As Catnapper expands its casual lifestyle entries this market, it's keying in on several new motion groups in leather and fabric that offer large scaling and super comfort.
"Big and soft and comfortable, that's what's really selling," said Randy Spak, senior vice president of sales and merchandising. "As a private company with a low-cost basis, we think we can be very financially smart in encouraging dealers to buy our product rather than imports. Our strategy is to offer aggressive pricing so retailers can make better margins."
Catnapper will add to its Comfort Choices collection of sofas, loveseats and wedges with the Softie, a plush biscuit-tufted sofa at $799 retail with recliner.
Also, Blockbuster, offered in a chenille-topped choice of sofa, loveseat or rocker recliner, showcases a drop-down table, built-in massage and cupholders. The motion sofa is priced at $699 retail.
The contemporary-themed Temptation sofa in a "leather-touch" cover is $999 retail, while a series of rocker recliners in faux leather or microsuede also will be on hand at Catnapper.
Both Best Home Furnishings and Douglas Furniture will offer sectionals with sleeper units here.
Best's eight-piece motion sectional (M485) can be custom configured to any space. The sectional is available with full-size sleeper as well as reverse-arm options. Pieces include a loveseat, recliner, corner wedge and armless stationary chair.
At Douglas, the Ardon one-arm sectional incorporates plush comfort and contemporary styling plus the option of a full-size sleeper. Ardon also offers two recliners, a concealed pull-down tray under a center back pillow, cupholders and a remote control station. Rounding out the group is a double reclining sofa, a double reclining loveseat, a correlated rocker recliner and a corner wedge,
El Ran's transitional entries will include the fabric-covered No. 4001, with a cascading front for deep seating comfort, and No. 9084, a biscuit-back leather sofa with individual dual-recline activators.
Making a fashion statement, Emerald Home Furnishings incorporates the popularity of the leather/microfiber collage look into a motion sofa, loveseat and recliner. Albany (No. U7130) pairs polyurethane accents with microfiber for a contrast look at $950 retail for the sofa.
On the specialty side, Interactive Health will unveil the Human Touch Exclusive Zero-Gravity Massage Chair (No. HT-7450), combining the healing benefits of Human Touch Technology with the ergonomics of a "zero-gravity" recliner.
From German importer G.A. Brinkel comes Atlas, the latest Pure chair entry, as well as Hamburg, a motorized three-piece contemporary home theater group in leather.
Leather Italia USA is featuring 25 new models, including 16 frames value-priced at $850 retail as the result of new offshore sourcing. Expanded price points range from $600 to $999.
Featured pieces include Monroe, a motion sofa ($825), loveseat or recliner with pillowtop arms/backs and plush bucket seating, as well as a stationary sofa dressed in calfskin leather.
Palatial Furniture and Aspen Leather are adding reclining chairs, while Cheers Sofa USA, Coaster Co. of America, Leatherworks/Local Motion Only and U.S. Furniture will offer enhanced motion assortments.
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