Occasional sources bring lots of fresh merchandise
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, April 6, 2008
High Point — Occasional and accent furniture vendors showing here this week haven't let the economic slowdown affect their product offerings.
In fact, they are being as aggressive as ever, launching numerous groups with combinations of style and function that retailers have come to expect in the category.
This market, many sources are leaning towards transitional and contemporary styles that include clean-lined pieces made with metal, wood and combinations of glass, metal and wood. Other sources are showing traditional designs, many of which are updated with new finishes and function, such as multi-media storage capacity.
At premarket, Universal Furniture showed three new stand-alone groups and one new plantation-styled collection with seven occasional pieces in two finishes.
The collection includes two cocktails priced at $299 and $349 retail. Style elements include louvered doors, raised framed end panels and turned legs. Functional elements include drawers, storage baskets and display shelves.
The stand-alone sets include the transitional Lexsey, a six-piece group with rustic alder veneer tops and metal bases in an antique bronze finish; the four-piece, campaign-styled Cordell, with hickory veneers and drawer and door storage elements; and the French country Saint Charles, which has cherry veneers and shaped tops and curved legs. Cocktails in these groups range from $399 to $499 retail.
Broyhill is bringing out 10 stand-alone occasional groups in styles ranging from the five-piece casual contemporary Cowry Cove — which has a cocktail featuring a lift-up panel that can be turned over and used as a woven raffia cushioned seat — to the seven-piece cottage-styled Beason Square, which features cathedral cherry veneers.
Cottage styling also appears in Broyhill's Endless Summer, which features pine solids and veneers and woven wicker accents.
Contemporary styles appear in Cotter, a six-piece group made with mahogany solids, and Mannix, a four-piece metal group in an antique nickel finish.
Contemporary and transitional styles are also prominent in new groups being launched by Bassett Mirror and Brownstone Furniture, the latter of which has a clean-lined contemporary group called Hampton that features round and rectangular cocktails retailing at $690 and $715, respectively.
Hekman's Asher Benjamin collection takes a clean-lined contemporary approach with its 18 pieces of dining room, home office and occasional. Made with American cherry veneers and walnut accents and borders, the collection's subtle architectural details draw on designers Peter and Meg Strattner's New England roots for inspiration.
Butler Specialty takes a clean-lined contemporary approach with its additions to the Artists' Original's and Designer's Edge program. Designer's Edge includes several new pieces in reclaimed wood.
Traditional forms seen in Lexington Home Brands' new Hancock Park collection are updated to appear more transitional in nature thanks to obsidian and cognac finishes, the latter of which highlights natural grain patterns.
New accent chairs with traditional hand-carved frames being shown at P.A.M.A. Furniture, Bailey Street and Best Home Furnishings get an updated look thanks to a mix of eclectic finishes and fabrics.
"They are more transitional to contemporary," said Eric Vollmer, advertising coordinator for Best, of his company's new chairs. "They have a streamlined look to them. The fabrics help determine which side it will go to, but they lean more towards the contemporary side."
Contemporary and transitional styling dominates Bernhardt's new stand-alone groups. Many are clean-lined designs made with textured hammered metal, terra cotta tile and travertine stone with solar bronze glass tops and metal bases. Cocktails retail from $399 to $799.
Here, too, functionality plays a role. Some tables come equipped with side doors and pull-out trays as well as shelf and drawer storage.
Bernhardt leans more toward traditional for its new collections, including the Victorian-influenced Smithsonian collection, Chesapeake, and the traditional European-influenced Casa Bella. Each has a generous selection of occasional products, which offer both functionality and mixed-media elements such as hand-forged metal, beveled glass and stone.
Traditional influences also are strong in some of Riverside Furniture's new occasional groups. These include Tosca, a four-piece group with oak veneer tops and metal legs, and Octavia, which has slate tops and metal legs and stretchers. Cocktails range from $350 to $450.
Other new groups being featured at Riverside lean towards transitional styling, including the clean lined five-piece Dominique, and the five-piece Brandon Bay, which has a $499 storage cocktail with poplar solids and birch veneers.
Hooker Furniture continues to tap its expertise in complex multi-step and hand-painted finishes for pieces in its Seven Seas Accent program. Seven Seas includes the new Firenza Hills collection, which features a French leg chest, jewelry chest and oval two-drawer French chest, all shapely pieces with green, burgundy and golden undertones and functional elements such as drawers and lift tops that reveal shaped mirrors and felt-lined storage compartments.
Its new Vicenza collection, also part of Seven Seas, has a tall-waisted door chest and a shaped credenza, which also have a new designer color palette in a heavy gesso black finish with gold accents.
Other accents in the Seven Seas line with hand-painted elements include a four-door black credenza in the Glenhill collection, a new French leg accent table, a spiral leg console with pass-through drawers and a three-drawer chest with a shaped front to name several.
Complex multi-step and hand-painted finishes also continue to play a big role in new accent items at Habersham. Among its signature items this market are the Caroline seven-drawer chest, which features a distressed finish with hand-painted florals and other textural accents, and the Ashton floral cabinet, which has a hand-worn finish with a hand-painted floral and plaid pattern.
Pulaski's accent line includes nearly 80 new pieces, some of which have a rich palette with colors that include Belgian blue, chili pepper red and a country French blue.
Along with style and function, color remains a core ingredient of Pulaski's accent program, said Dallas George, vice president of accents and display cabinets.
"It's all about color and being right with the color," he said, adding that the company chooses colors that have relevance to top-selling fabrics in the marketplace.
Functionality, too, plays a key role at Pulaski, particularly in items like new secretaries that have file drawers and compartments and charging devices for small hand-held technologies such as iPods and cell phones. New $399 chairside media chests that look like small file cabinets have similar compartments and electrical hookups for both phones and laptop computers.
Magnussen Home developed a line of freestanding and collection-based groups that meld both style and functionality.
Functional elements appear in cocktails designed with pass-through drawers, side media storage and lift tops that reveal hidden storage and work areas. They offer a convenient venue for the use of a laptop in the living or family room.
"We just think this is the way the consumer lives," said Don Essenberg, executive vice president and chief marketing officer. "You just want to be able to accommodate a laptop in the family room today."
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