Lights, camera, action!
Demand for home theater seating grows with electronics
By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, November 4, 2007
High Point — Home theater seating, often viewed as a luxury item for upscale homes, is gaining broader appeal as flat-panel television sales continue to grow and electronics prices continue to fall.
Upholstery resources say their home theater products haven't caught fire in the same manner as wood entertainment furniture, but such items are on the fastest-growing lists of a number of companies.
And most believe the growth should continue at least through February 2009, the date when televisions stations are required to stop broadcasting in analog and send their signals exclusively in a digital format.
Until that time, furniture-makers believe consumers will continue to buy new televisions in droves as the electronics industry convinces them of the need to upgrade before the analog signal cut-off.
An exciting time
"In the last four months, we've seen a 40% increase in home theater," said Michael Campbell, president of leather upholstery resource Leather Italia. "It has been a very exciting time for us."
Campbell and other resources said many of their home theater configurations are being purchased as part of a complete makeover of a living room, den or family room. The makeover typically is centered around a large-screen, flat-panel television, but usually includes wood and upholstered furniture as well.
And despite rapidly falling television prices, such makeovers don't come cheap. The seating, in fact, is often the most expensive item in the room.
A typical three- or four-seat home theater configuration retails for $1,500 and up in leather. Power reclining mechanisms, which are extremely popular in such configurations, boost the price by at least $100 per seat, and producers say many consumers want only top grades of all-leather covers because they expect the seats to be heavily used.
"We think full power is the way to go," said Bryan Edwards, eastern regional vice president of Aspenhome, a resource for both wood entertainment furniture and upholstery. "That's what our customers are asking for."
Edwards, who says home theater is the fastest-growing segment of Aspenhome's leather upholstery offerings, said the company recently decided to offer all-leather covers exclusively because demand for leather/vinyl and fabric covers was dropping rapidly.
Major upholstery players such as La-Z-Boy and Klaussner still offer seating with fabric covers, but with retail prices sometimes topping $1,000 for a four-seat configuration, even those units can hardly be considered promotionally priced.
While few furniture stores sell electronics, producers said that shouldn't hinder home theater sales as long as the seating is property displayed. Vignette settings with correlating occasional tables and entertainment furniture often work best, they say.
"I really feel that traditional furniture stores can sell home theater as long as they keep it simple," said Mark Hedden, product development manager for motion furniture at Flexsteel. "There has been a lot of excitement about the product recently."
More fresh product
At last month's High Point Market, Hedden said the company had a successful debut with Jet Stream, a seating group with power reclining mechanisms. More such groups are likely to be unveiled in the coming months, he said.
Berkline, widely acknowledged as the sales leader in the category, had one new seating group at market, while Campbell said Leather Italia added power reclining mechanisms to two of its most popular groups.
High-end producer American Leather, on the other hand, unveiled its first seats with manual reclining mechanisms, while La-Z-Boy debuted Broadway, its second major home theater seating group.
Lane Furniture, meanwhile, added its top-selling seating group, the Gambler, to its express shipping program. That means the group, which retails for $2,599 in a three-seat configuration, can now be shipped to dealers in five to 10 days.
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