Industry down, but not out
Ray Allegrezza, Editor in Chief -- Furniture Today, February 4, 2008
Call me the perpetual optimist, but as I write this column in the press room at the World Market Center in Las Vegas, I find myself incredibly energized.
Here's why. The realist in me knows full well that the business has been in a state of suspended animation and may well stay that way for quite some time. Even so, despite this lingering malaise, this industry is sending a resolute message that while it may be down, it is anything but out.
When times get really bad, fear steps in and can cripple a company, rendering it unable to move. That's certainly not the case here.
For example, Lexington Home Brands had dozens of introductions on display in its chic new showroom. And Vaughan-Bassett, which has remained true to a predominantly domestic manufacturing posture, announced plans here to team up with designer Alexander Julian for a line of furniture appropriately dubbed Authentically American.
Meanwhile, the boys of bedding, always aggressive, continue to grow their business by engaging the consumer with compelling messages about the virtues and opportunities of better sleep.
And let's not forget the prospects that the burgeoning market for sustainable home furnishings holds. Dozens of suppliers, in every key product category, were here with green goods.
Buyers shopping here had a chance to evaluate Restonic's eco-friendly Blue Bed. And Simmons created a buzz with the news that Danny Seo, who graced the cover of Green, our first-ever digital magazine, is developing a line of eco-friendly latex beds for the company. And that's just in bedding.
But perhaps the biggest news that we broke at market concerned a $20 million campaign set to launch this summer to educate and motivate consumers. The campaign is being spearheaded by television network HGTV and the National Home Furnishings Assn. This has the potential to touch, engage and ultimately move the consumer like never before.
