Atlanta exhibitors pleased with turnout, feedback
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, January 20, 2008
Atlanta — Dozens of furniture vendors used last week's gift and home furnishings show here to rev up their business heading into the new year and to preview pieces they'll show at markets in Las Vegas and spring High Point.
From a furniture perspective, the Jan. 8–16 Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market is not a major market. But for a large contingent of accent and occasional furniture suppliers, the show helps reach a targeted niche business of designers, smaller dealers and gift stores.
For occasional and accent furniture specialist Furniture Classics, the show is second to High Point in importance, said Alex Boyer, sales and marketing manager. President Doug Ricks said while his Atlanta shoppers generally are smaller accounts, the company will write orders representing about half the sales volume of High Point.
Ricks said near the end of the market that the company's orders were up about 20% from last January. Of the 300 SKUs in the showroom, 18 were new pieces.
"It gives us a chance to test two to three categories prior to High Point," he said. "We usually get good feedback."
The company's Two Palms Casual division had a booth at the show where it showed four pieces in its new Key West collection. They included an occasional chair, a juvenile chair, an adult wing chair and a side table with lift-off top, all made from rattan soaked in salt water for 30 days.
"It has been a great introduction for us," said Jeannie Bethel, national sales manager. "It has exceeded my expectations, and I will be showing more pieces in High Point."
Accent furniture specialist Accents Beyond usually sees customers from design firms and small stores in Atlanta. Most pieces in its showroom were top sellers from High Point. The lineup includes English and French reproduction-style accent tables, chests, desks and display cabinets.
"It's generally a good show for us, but we do a lot more business in High Point because the space there is larger," said representative Bruce Feeney. "Here the traffic is from smaller stores and furniture may not be their primary business."
Furniture occupies about three main floors in Building One of the AmericasMart complex. All told, there were about 310 furniture exhibitors listed in the show directory, although some were casual furniture lines, rugs and fabrics.
Accent furniture and chair specialist Bailey Street Holding Co. was in a new space this market, closer to the indoor furniture cluster. The move exposed it to more key accounts, designers and independents, said Greg Waylock, marketing manager.
"The buyers we are seeing are buyers that are more appropriate for our product line," he said.
The mix of clients makes the show rank just behind High Point and nearly tie with Las Vegas in terms of importance for Bailey Street, Waylock said. The company used the show to introduce some of the new pieces it plans to show in Las Vegas next week, including new SKUs in its Couture Covers program, which features upholstered chairs with interchangeable fabrics.
High-end case goods supplier Roberta Schilling Collection showed a line of hand-painted and hand-carved beds, chests, tables and hutch units made in Brazil.
President Roberta Schilling said she was pleased with the show, and has shown in Atlanta for 10 years.
"This is a great show not only for me as an exhibitor, but also for high-end buyers," she said, noting the selection of traditional, rustic and eclectic products at the event. "The mix they have here is very upscale."
Products in her line included a hand-painted table retailing for $7,000 and a companion hutch retailing at $19,000.
Anther higher-end exhibitor was Palecek, which showcased its line of furniture made with natural materials, including abaca, seagrass and woven rattan.
Also in that category was ArtMax, which showed a contemporary lineup that featured a $1,299-retail cocktail table in its new Forest group with a black granite top, a $1,699 jewelry and art display case in its new Eclectic collection and a $1,499 reverse-painted, glass-top cocktail in its new Soho collection.
Four Hands showed its upscale line of case goods and accent furniture pieces featuring a mix of reclaimed hardwood solids and heavily distressed finishes. Its showroom also had several pieces from the Old Java line, which it began distributing in the North American market this month.
Domestic manufacturer Eddy West offered a line of case goods with multi-step finishes, including a $14,000 executive desk and a companion library wall unit retailing for $18,000.
Key City Upholstery, Hickory White, Hekman, Sherrill and Bernhardt had items on display at Charles Ray and Associates.
The Bernhardt display featured bedroom, occasional and dining room pieces in the National Heritage and American Archive components of its Smithsonian-licensed collection. It also had marketing materials touting its Montelena and Windemere collections.
