Leather grabs a quarter of stationary sales
By Dana French -- Furniture Today, November 5, 2007
High Point — More than seven million U.S. households purchased a stationary sofa in 2006, collectively spending $11.9 billion on the category. Three out of every four of these buyers bought a fabric-covered sofa and one out of four purchased a leather-covered one. That's the finding from Furniture/Today's exclusive 2007 Consumer Buying Trends Survey.
While one-fourth of all stationary sofa purchases last year were leather, buying households spent, on average, 1.5 times more when they purchased a leather sofa. Due to the higher price points, leather-covered sofas accounted for nearly one-third of the retail dollars spent on all stationary sofas — $3.8 billion. The more than five million households purchasing a fabric-covered sofa last year spent $8.1 billion.
Traditional stores winning
Three out of every four households buying a stationary sofa last year, no matter if was fabric or leather, purchased it at either a traditional furniture store or a single-source network.
Traditional furniture stores, including Rooms To Go, Havertys and local, independent stores, were the destination of choice for 64% of households buying a fabric-covered stationary sofa and 57% of households buying a leather one.
Fabric buyers spent a median of $825 in a traditional furniture store and leather buyers spent nearly 1.5 times more there, a median of $1,200.
Single-source networks, including heavyweights such as Ashley Furniture HomeStores, Ethan Allen and La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries, accounted for 17% of leather-covered sofa buys last year and 10% of fabric-covered ones. Interestingly, the tickets for fabric-covered sofas were higher than for leather-covered ones, the opposite of the national trend. Households spent nearly 1.8 times more on their fabric sofa purchase in single-source networks, a median of $1,250, than they did on their leather buy, a median of $700.
Baby Boomers still key
Baby Boomers are the dominant purchasing group for both cover choices. As a group, Boomers accounted for 40% of households buying fabric and leather stationary sofas last year. They spent a median of $1,150 on a leather sofa last year and a median of $750 on a fabric-covered one. Younger Baby Boomers, currently between the ages of 43 and 51, composed a larger portion of leather buyers and Older Baby Boomers, currently between the ages of 52 and 61, accounted for a larger percentage of fabric buyers.
The Boomer's kids — known as Generation Y — were bigger buyers of fabric-covered sofas. Gen Y accounted for one-fifth of all fabric stationary sofa buyers in 2006 and 13% of leather buyers. They spent twice as much on their fabric-covered purchase, a median of $1,000, and a median of $500 on their leather sofa buys.
The group sandwiched between the Boomers and Gen Y, Generation X, accounted for one-fourth of both leather and fabric buyers last year. Members of Gen X, currently between the ages of 32 and 42, are big spenders, too. They spent $1,000 on a leather sofa and a median of $800 on a fabric-covered stationary sofa.
Overall, households purchasing leather were more ethnically diverse. While three-fourths of leather buyers classified themselves as White, one-third belonged to a minority group: 13% were Hispanic, 11% were African-American and 8% were Asian-American. Only 11% of fabric buyers belonged to a minority group.
Fabric-covered buyers had slightly lower incomes than those buying leather. One-third of fabric buyers had household incomes under $40,000, compared with 23% of leather buyers. More than one-third of leather buyers had incomes between $40,000 and $74,999, compared with one-fourth of fabric buyers. Incomes were evenly dispersed at the high end of the spectrum however. About two-fifths of both fabric and leather buyers had incomes of $75,000 or more.
| Amount spent | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fabric stationary sofas | Leather stationary sofas | |
| Source: Furniture/Today Consumer Buying Trends Survey, 2007 | ||
| median | $800 | $1,000 |
| Under $300 | 7% | 8% |
| $300 – $499 | 13% | 5% |
| $500 – $599 | 9% | 8% |
| $600 – $799 | 18% | 16% |
| $800 – $999 | 13% | 11% |
| $1,000 – $1,249 | 18% | 11% |
| $1,250 – $1,749 | 15% | 11% |
| $1,750 – $2,499 | 4% | 11% |
| $2,500 or more | 3% | 19% |
