New bedroom product appeals to mainstream
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, November 2, 2008
HIGH POINT — Bedroom vendors at the October market here learned there's not much room for error in a tough economy.
The successful ones offered options at relatively safe ends of the design spectrum — traditional and contemporary — that appeal to mainstream demographics.
Retailers also found plenty of options that add value to the category, ranging from media chests and storage beds to nightstands with touch lighting and powerstrips. Wall beds also remained popular, particularly in contemporary and modern footprints.
Thomas Hahn Home received positive response to American Architect, a contemporary case goods collection featuring a wall platform storage bed with companion nightstands. Dealers liked a dresser with a sliding door and a low-profile wall bed with two nightstands.
Also popular was the French modern design influences of Drexel Heritage's Philosophies, a 32-piece collection with panel and poster beds that retail at $2,799 and $2,999.
Contemporary popular
Bernhardt said it did well with its contemporary/modern Palomar collection, which features a wall bed with two bedside chests that retail at $4,000. A button-tufted leather bed also received strong commitments.
Some of the clean-lined contemporary groups introduced in High Point are designed for younger consumers, including those who live in smaller apartments or starter homes.
Klaussner's Lennox collection, for example, is aimed at Gen X and Gen Y. Dealers liked the clean-lined group, made with quarter-cut ash with contrasting leather-wrapped hardware, and saw added value in functional features such as powerstrips on the backs of nightstands.
Magnussen's Urban Safari appealed to dealers looking to reach young professional females. The modern bedroom and dining room collection includes a $1,999 wall bed with underbed storage and is made with Mozambique and prima vera veneers in a lattice-work pattern, which is repeated on the fronts of case pieces, including an $899 media chest.
Other urban contemporary bedrooms that performed well included Broyhill's Urban Solutions, AICO's Via Lustra and Signature Home Furnishings' Contempo.
Dealers also responded to updated traditional looks at companies such as Thomasville, Henredon, Cresent, Fine Furniture Design & Marketing, Universal, Largo International and Lexington Home Brands.
Lexington's Barclay Square is a traditional group with English influences that was shown in a replica of an old New York brownstone. Dealers liked the upholstered leather and nailhead trim on the headboard of the St. Regis bed and the rustic cherry veneers on signature case pieces such as the Bond Street armoire. The company also wrote orders on Mar-A-Lago, the latest Donald Trump collection launched in Las Vegas, and a number of other existing groups.
“We got it on paper and got a huge amount,” President and CEO Phil Haney said of the order writing.
Universal said it received good reaction to its Pennsylvania House Classics brand, which included a transitional group, an updated traditional group and a large-scale Louis Philippe collection.
Some lifestyle or casual transitional looks also did well. Among the hits was Broyhill's Modern Country Classics, a 30-piece whole home collection combining urban lines with Shaker influences. Made with cathedral cherry veneers in three finishes, it includes a panel bed with underbed storage that retails at $1,299.
Coastal Living a hit
Stanley Furniture's 80-piece, U.S.-made Coastal Living collection, offered in 14 finishes, did well among dealers seeking customization and quick delivery. The group goes into production in November and will ship in 30 days or less from the time of order. The collection also includes four Vanguard upholstery frames available in about 25 fabrics.
“We put orders on paper at market, which is extremely rare,” said Glenn Prillaman, executive vice president of sales and marketing. “Retailers are finally starting to come around and say 'I didn't have to have such a large part of my mix imported'.… They are working with resources that can deliver on promises.”
Most bedroom resources reported lower traffic at market. Still, some said they received strong enough responses to proceed with cuttings.
Lifestyle Enterprise plans to cut each of the seven new bedrooms it launched during market, including a new cherry veneer Louis Philippe group it launched in its Forbidden City division, with a new 17-step cherry finish. A five-piece group retails at $1,099, its sharpest price point ever within the division.
“Everybody in here has written orders,” said Managing Director James Riddle, although he said traffic was off 40% and 50%. “You would never know that business was down. We just didn't have enough traffic.”
Case goods importer Trade Masters plans to cut as many as six or seven of the 20 groups it introduced during market.
“We assumed it was business as usual,” said President Ron O'Dell, noting that the company picked up several new accounts. “If you don't have a full complement of product and start shrinking back, that's not a good thing to do.”
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