Market provides opportunity to get fresh ideas, tweak lines
David Perry, Executive editor -- Furniture Today, July 27, 2008
So here we are, in the middle of a year of breathtakingly lousy business, at another market. Thank goodness for that.
While some retailers have been telling me they aren't expecting much from this market, I offer a different view. I think this market will give retailers an important opportunity to ferret out interesting new lines, compare notes, and find renewed strength to do battle in the bedding marketplace.
This is not a rose-colored glasses prediction. My experience from more than 20 years of following the mattress business is that we have a resilient group of producers and retailers who are pretty darn good at sniffing out opportunities, wherever they exist.
As retailers make the rounds here, they have a chance to tweak their mattress lines, add accessories (a vast profit opportunity that many retailers are still forsaking), and pick up new promotional and marketing ideas.
I can't predict what traffic will be like in bedding showrooms, but I can predict that the retailers who are here will find something to make their trips worthwhile. In a stagnant market, there are two kinds of retailers: Those pushing ahead, and those falling behind. Hunkering down, skipping markets, slashing advertising and bemoaning poor business are all bad ideas these days.
Do I know how bad things are out there? Of course I do. We are in the midst of the worst bedding year in decades. Overall dollar and unit volume may be down in the high single digits. Yes, this is a recession, and a particularly nasty one at that. Let's not mince words.
But here's the deal: We have a chance to get better as an industry as we struggle through this year. There has never been a better time for producers and retailers to emphasize sales training. With customers staying out of stores, there is plenty of time for retail sales associates to brush up on the basics and pick up some new skills.
As retailers and producers trim costs, they are laying the foundation for significantly improved profitability, when business does return some time next year. The tough medicine we are taking this year will make us healthier — eventually.
Yes, there will be more casualties. Recessions do winnow the field. It is tough to see companies fall by the wayside. But, having acknowledged all of those unpleasant realities, I'm serious when I say that we will all feel a little bit better about our tough lot this year when we get together as an industry. It is uplifting to renew the friendships that make the bedding industry so special. It is encouraging to hear the leaders of our industry assure us that we will survive these dark days and that the sun will shine again — someday.
Contact David Perry at dperry@reedbusiness.com
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