Rug sources offer new designs, display ideas
By Lissa Wyman -- Furniture Today, April 20, 2008
High Point — No one in the rug business expected much from High Point, but as the market progressed, jangled nerves relaxed a bit. It wasn't nearly as bad as everyone feared.
Pre-market homework paid off for vendors who pinned down buyers for appointments. Retailers came and they bought, although they were cautious, executives said.
"Buyers were more focused than ever before," said Kelly Watson, vice president of product development for Couristan. "They were looking for specific looks and price points. The days of buying an entire line are over."
"The market started slowly, but traffic built through the first two days," said John Feizy, president of Feizy Rugs. "Basically, sales are stronger at the high end. The middle part of the market is soft."
Feizy said he expects to see some economic recovery in the fourth quarter and is hoping the elections will help.
"Consumers have three basic needs, and those are food, housing and gasoline," said Leon Capel, a principal of Capel. "Rugs are way down the list of necessities, so it's a real challenge for us to create a demand for our product."
Rug suppliers also said the retail environment is more stratified than ever.
"The upper end of the market is still doing well, and we've made a lot of additions in our better quality lines," said Patrick Muschamp, vice president of sales for Nourison. "Our job is to develop different products for the varied price niches. We also have to keep our inventory levels high in order to adequately service retailers who may not want to commit to a lot of stock in the current economy."
Nourison has also introduced programs that allow retailers to show a maximum number of products in a minimum amount of space.
Keith Arlinghaus, senior buyer for rugs for Macy's Home Stores who shopped market, agreed that freshness of assortment is a key ingredient to selling in a tough retail environment.
"Better goods are fairly recession-proof, while the low end is more sensitive to economic downturns. We are emphasizing higher-quality goods now, and looking for things that have a very fresh look," said Arlinghaus. "That's why I make it a point to come to every market. I've got to be on top of what's new."
"Keep it fresh" was a mantra for both retailers and vendors here.
"We've got to keep our assortments fresh, and we've also got to develop new approaches to merchandising to help our retailers present rugs in the best possible way," said Kim Reynolds, vice president of marketing for Sphinx by Oriental Weavers. Sphinx has developed tools for retailers such as a point-of-purchase kit for calling the consumer's attention to the company's stain and soil warranties.
In today's economy, buyers are looking for items that pop out from the crowd, said Michael Shabtai, president of The Rug Market.
"We don't believe in copying everybody else in the market. In fact, when we research trends, we don't look at the rug business at all, we look at other consumer goods categories," he said. "Our aim is to be unique in the market. That's why our business is up."
Liora Manne, owner of the multi-product Liora Manne lifestyle line and lead designer for Trans-Ocean Imports, added a metallic glitter to several lines in both the high end and popular price ranges. One of Trans-Ocean's recession-busting strategies is to adapt high end looks to popular price points, she said.
Paramount Rugs said it did well at market with its hand-knotted rugs made at its own facilities in Nepal.
"When people are buying New York City co-ops and condos for millions of dollars, they are not going to put a machine-made rug in there," said Celeste Casale, director of marketing.
"The footsteps at market are not as frequent, but we are writing orders," said Joe Barkley, executive vice president of Kaleen. "The great thing that happens in High Point is that the customer is prequalified. They are here to write orders, not to kick tires."
Kaleen recently signed a licensing deal with TV food expert Paula Deen and has already authorized 378 companies as Paula Deen retailers.
"We are not going after the major chains; our strategy is to partner with the dominant specialty store in each community," said Barkley. "Paula Deen is the best thing that ever happened to us."
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