Occasional buyers like wide assortment of styles
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, February 4, 2008
Las Vegas — Buyers seeking out new occasional styles found a wide assortment here thanks to some aggressive product launches this market.
These ranged from pieces in large collections to stand-alone occasional groups and individual accent items.
Among the best performers among Standard Furniture's 20 new occasional groups was the traditional-style London Town, which featured cocktails in a two-tone brown and black finish and inset glass tops retailing at $349.
Riverside Furniture had strong dealer response to its Splash of Color program, which added 16 new colors this market, bringing the total number of options to 20. The colors apply to 55 items, 60% of which are occasional, said Linda Owen, vice president of marketing. Other pieces include bedroom, home office and home entertainment.
CR-Home also continued to receive good reaction to its InColor program. Occasional division Peters-Revington also did well with groups with cocktails retailing from $179 to $399. The higher price points were in a designer-centric group called Neoclassic, which included round and oval-shaped tables with cherry veneer tops and heavy solid-wood support columns, all in a dark cherry finish.
Broyhill had 19 new occasional groups, three of which were parts of larger collections called Enchantment, Fireside Cherry and Stetler Manor.
Butler Specialty Co. had strong reaction on a number of its 13 new pieces, including a $599 chairside chest and a $699 display table in its Designer's Edge collection made with reclaimed wood from the Philippines.
"Dealers are telling us that they need transitional accents," said Dan Sumner, vice president of sales and marketing. "We are working hard to address that."
Ultimate Accents had hits with new pieces, including the traditional $899 Lucerne laptop center with lateral file storage and a drop-down lid, and a companion four-drawer chest retailing at $499. Its growing selection of contemporary-style chests also continued to be popular among buyers.
Orleans Furniture reported a warm reception for some electric fireplace units, including two new ones retailing from $899 to $999 with built-in radio units and hidden storage for iPods. The functionality of these was a hit with buyers looking for products that incorporate the latest technologies.
Classic Flame also did well with a number of new fireplace units, particularly those that accommodate flat-panel TVs.
But the company's biggest news this market was its decision to apply 10-year warranties on all its electric fireplace inserts. The previous warranties were for one year.
"We looked at our engineering and the quality of our inserts and said 'we can do that,'" said Bill Caples, vice president of sales for company parent Twin-Star International. "We have one standard of excellence, the highest, for all of our electric fireplaces, across the board."
Functionality also was a major theme at AICO, which featured a number of occasional tables in new and existing groups with drop-down surfaces, lift-off trays and hidden drawer storage.
Lexington Home Brands drew a positive response on its British West Indies-inspired Kingstown collection, part of Tommy Bahama Home.
