Upholstery vendors set for better business
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, February 1, 2010
LAS VEGAS —
Stationary upholstery vendors are hoping that this will be the market that turns the tide on what has been a very dismal period for the furniture industry.
It's unlikely that the next few days will completely relieve anybody's anxiety over where the market is going, but upholstery manufacturers across the price spectrum say they've seen incremental increases in order placement lately and expect this event to be good one.
“I'm very excited. I think it's going to be a great market. We have a lot of appointments and a lot of people have told us they're coming in to make their selections,” said Braden Richter, CEO of the newly formed Archetype Furniture in Los Angeles.
“I think we've generated a lot of buzz because we're new and different. In High Point, our head count was over 300 people a day. For a company that is seven months old, we've already opened seven of the Top 100 stores and we're in discussions and sampling with another 20.”
Like most stationary vendors, Archetype will have enough fresh offerings to make buyer visits interesting. The company is introducing four new groups and reintroducing four previous Richter designs with coordinating tables in the mid-price category.
“It's not that matched; it's eclectic,” Richter said of the new wood selections.
Ben Nielson, CEO of Cambridge of California, thinks “it's going to be a tough market and we're going to have to be sharp on our pricing and deliveries to compete with China. And that's exactly what we're going to do.”
Not only is it hard for domestic producers to compete with importers, especially on the West Coast where incoming goods aren't subject to cross-country freight charges, Nielson said it's hard to get consumers to part with their money.
“I was in a store this weekend and they had a lot of traffic but they just weren't able to (convert them into buyers). The consumers come in and they look, and they go look again, and then they come back and look again,” he said.
Robert You, general manager of Focus One Home, said the contemporary and transitional upholstery maker is “expecting a lot of people.
“Buyers will still be cautious but I think at this market they will buy more because either they're already out of inventory or they need fresh stuff on the floor.
“In the last six months, they've depleted whatever they had. Even us, we've gotten rid of the old stuff. We just discounted it to get more space for the new stuff.”
The company's new offerings will include at least four frames and several cocktail tables, an introduction on par with what the company usually brings out.
Another company expecting a strong market is mid-priced producer Flexsteel.
“Las Vegas continues to be an important market,” said Lee Fautsch, vice president of sales, residential. “We're bringing out more new things in Vegas as time goes on. The last two Las Vegas markets we've used as a launch for some significant new product because we need to capture those Western, Midwestern and Southwestern customers that don't attend High Point anymore.”
The publicly traded company will be approaching the market here in an enthusiastic mood after coming off the October-December quarter with sales up 28%. “That speaks to the strength of our line,” said Fautsch. “We have an extremely well balanced line right now.”
That line will be expanded with four new fabric collections and a motion group.
“I think retail is marginally better, but there are fewer reliable suppliers in the marketplace because many of them have simply not survived this protracted downturn and we're reaping the benefit of that,” Fautsch said. “We expect this Las Vegas market to be up. We write a lot of business there and we expect this to be no exception.”
Importer AC Pacific Corp. is expecting this market “to go fairly well with quite a bit of traffic,” said Tim Miller, marketing director. “I want to say (it will be) the same as last time or realistically even a 30% increase. We have a lot of different styles that we're introducing.”
He said the company previously has been focusing on its motion line, especially leather and modern styles, but this market it will emphasize transitional “with a good amount” of frames.
Michael Hansen, vice president of product development for Kathy Ireland Home by Omni Furniture, said he is “guardedly optimistic” about the outcome of the market here.
“We want to be realistic,” he said. “The conversations we're having are that there should be a little more attendance to the February show than perhaps we saw in the fall. We're certainly looking forward to that.”
In addition to its leather introductions, Omni plans to expand its fabric line with three new collections, which Hansen said is “a lot” for the company. And hopefully buyers — and ultimately consumers — will be ready to buy.
“As a general rule, there's not been widespread replenishment from anybody in the last six months,” said Hensen. “At some point, they're going to have to (stock up). There were some signs of life this holiday season. There were people out shopping.”
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