Level of activity surprises leather sources
By Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today, November 2, 2008
HIGH POINT — Leather upholstery providers showing here at market expressed surprise at how much business they were able to conduct in the face of economic uncertainty.
Manufacturers including American Leather, Natuzzi and Palliser said their showroom business was better than expected, with the strongest traffic early in the week.
But leather executives admitted traffic was down as much as 12% to 15% from the April market.
At American Leather, reception to its acquisition of West Coast contemporary upholstery resource John Charles Designs was “phenomenal,” said President Bruce Birnbach. “Our attendance wasn't bad and our written business surprisingly good, yet slightly off a typical market.”
John Phillips, Palliser's executive vice president of sales for upholstery, said the market traffic “pretty much held up. We were a little behind last year but nowhere near the shortfall we thought might happen.
“We had a lot of new product — our biggest offering in four years — and retailers responded,” he said.
At Lane Home Furnishings, David Wormald, leather merchandise manager, called the market “a mixed bag. Not knowing what was going to happen, we were pleased with the turnout.”
He said buyers shopped Lane for quality, domestic product and special orders. “There is less hassle than buying full containers,” Wormald said. “A lot of majors are prepared to buy full containers, but some are over-inventoried and want domestic product quickly.”
At Flexsteel, Lee Fautsch, vice president of sales, residential, said, “Showroom traffic was good but written business was marginally off.” In addition to the majors that regularly attend such markets, Fautsch said Flexsteel was buoyed by the number of independents.
“Much of that was attributable to the strategy of other manufacturers to drive their business through their own stores,” he said. “We are winning a war of attrition as it relates to the independent retailer. There are fewer choices for them.”
Natuzzi Americas President Cary Benson said the company “went in with a good attitude and people told us the mood here was refreshing.”
Natuzzi did well with an expanded stocking program, adding three fully accessorized room groups to its year-old Conover, N.C., warehouse line. In addition to furniture, the concept has boosted accessories sales, Benson said.
Nicoletti USA, a new company formed to sell the midpriced designs of Italian producer Nicoletti, showed for the first time.
“For this economy, we did very well,” said President Jim Anton. “We had a good market. We can't say a great market because nobody can. These are trying times. It's a mess out there right now, but we will show again next market.”
Kimberly Wilson, president of Bentbrook, the newly acquired upholstery division of Rare Collections, said, “We were really pleased at how well things turned out. The synergy between case goods and upholstery was well received.”
At DeCoro, Heath Corso, executive vice president of sales and marketing, said buyers are divided.
“Some were looking strictly for leather styles at the mid-price point, rather than promotional or bonded — which we don't carry,” he said. “Fortunately, a portion of buyers get it and don't want to go lower and lower in price. They are continuing to migrate toward better leathers.”
Mike Brown, vice president of sales for Simon Li said, “We had a good market but we will soon find out with follow-ups (on the road). The retailers that came in really liked our new direction toward commercial (mainstream) product targeting retails at $999.”
Luke Leather said its promotional efforts brought in bigger buyers, while Soflex saw good traffic from e-commerce customers and good results from its quick-ship program.
In the newly expanded Chateau d'Ax showroom, Harry Cierler, director of North American operations, said, “We had the normal cast of characters and we were happy to have them.”
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