Retailers looking for 'answers' in upholstery
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, September 30, 2007
High Point — — Stationary upholstery makers are expecting just an average selling market here this week but are hopeful that above-average sales in late August and early September portend an uptick in business.
Manufacturers are introducing a number of new products and programs, and price promotions are expected to be the norm. Deals may abound, but it's going to take more than that to stimulate consumers to return to stores, said Kerry Lebensburger, president of sales for Ashley's case goods, upholstery and Millennium divisions.
"I think dealers are coming to market looking for some answers. It's not necessarily low price but broader answers," he said. "If you're looking for low price, I'm sure we'll all have low-price stuff. But is that what the consumer wants?"
The home furnishings industry is similar in some ways to the sub-prime lending business in that it has "floated a lot of paper," Lebensburger said. "We've taken a lot of those customers out of the market. So we're trying to figure out who is going to be in the market and how we are going to satisify those people. Everybody wants price but I think more than ever it's going to be value.
"We've got to have some marketing answers for what it's going to be in the next few years."
Ashley's answer this market will be an "enormous" number of whole room packages that bundle sofas, chairs, tables, rugs, lamps and accessories at one price. The company has been running 14-piece offerings starting at $999 on up $2,000, with $1,499 accounting for the most volume. The program has been so successful that the company plans the same merchandising strategy for bedroom by adding mattresses, box springs and other pieces to the one-price bundle.
"I'm truly amazed that the consumer will allow us to tell her what accessories to put in her room," Lebensburger said, noting that consumers have less time to shop around these days.
Lebensburger said that Ashley has begun promoting the program, running TV commercials that show viewers how to build a room. "You get all this and it's $1,499" is the message, he said.
Case goods vendor Wynwood is re-entering the upholstery market with the launch of RoomMates, which marries imported seating with case goods offered in mixed containers, said Lorri Kelley, vice president of sales.
Kelley said the company expects to have a good market, partly because late August and Labor Day sales boosted retail spirits.
"Retailers are feeling a little more optimistic," she said. "They're looking forward to the fall."
Like Lebensburger, Kelley said that retailers are looking for more than run-of-the-mill goods and that Wynwood's case goods and upholstery package should be attractive to buyers and consumers alike.
"This is a different way to merchandise," she said, "and I know from being on the retail floor that a lot of consumers need help in deciding what goes together. You can talk about eclectic — putting a metal table with a banana leaf cube or a wood something-or-other. That's all wonderful. But I would tell you the majority of consumers don't understand that eclectic art of merchandising."
"I think it will be a decent market and your normal October market," said Chris Podschun, president and CEO of LaCrosse Furniture. He said business has been "horrible" for the industry in general but that Labor Day was quite good.
LaCrosse will limit its new offerings here since it prefers to use Las Vegas as its main market for introductions, but it will still have new goods for majors shopping the showroom. "We merchandise High Point different than Vegas," he said, noting "east of the Mississippi looks are more upscale, more Yuppie, more Crate & Barrel."
Jay Reardon, president of case goods and upholstery manufacturer Hickory Chair, said the hospitality sector held off buying new furnishings for a couple of years after Sept. 11, and is now replenishing hotels, motel and other accommodations with new product.
"There's a parallel to what good retailers will be doing this market," he said. "They've done the fiscally sound thing by working down inventories and sorting their floors with existing products and holding off on major new commitments."
Hickory Chair's focus will be to encourage its customers to re-merchandise floors with fresh looks inspired by products that are currently doing well in the marketplace. "The feedback our reps have had over the past few weeks is that dealers are coming in with an attitude," he said, adding that many plan to restock 25% to 40% of their floors.
"That's a significant market opportunity for those who have done their homework," Reardon added.
Hickory Chair offers customers the option of custom finishes on its case goods, and this market it will expand the offering with a Customer Owned Hardware program. Customers can now provide their own hardware or choose from standard, silver-plated, bronze and antique brass on best sellers.
Upholstery will take a similar approach to enhanced customization with a Made to Measure program that provides a number of silhouettes in increments of one inch. The idea, according to Reardon, is to allow customers to take the aesthetics of a piece they like and extend it into another. By example, the company will display a chair that has been expanded into a 140-inch sofa.
A new showroom, a new earth-friendly line of upholstery and a new great- room/family room/den line marketed to a value price are all expected to entice buyers to shop upholstery maker C.R. Laine, according to Holly Blalock, marketing director.
"C.R. Laine has gone through an evolution over the past three years," said Blalock. Buyers are coming in each market to see what's new, "so we've had record numbers every time and we're getting more and more."
Tim Broda, marketing and sales manager for upper-end producer Dino Mark Anthony, said the company has seen a surge of business recently and that it expects that trend to continue.
"Eventually, people have to start replacing some old stuff — sooner if not later," Broda said.
This market, Dino Mark Anthony is introducing a collection of "attention-grabber" chairs and a Hepplewhite-style sofa. "Usually, we do two or three sofa collections with chairs and chaises but we pretty much covered all the bases we wanted to cover and so we're giving that a break," Broda said.
Dino Mark Anthony doesn't show in Las Vegas because the company doesn't think that market attracts high-end buyers interested in the company's $3,000 to $10,000 sofas.
In High Point, the company should attract "an average number of buyers," Broda said. "We're optimistic we'll have a decent market."
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