Quick delivery a hot feature in upholstery
Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, September 13, 2010
A new glider rocker at Brooks Furniture that retails for $599 was a big hit with Tupelo buyers.
TUPELO, Miss. - Although upholstery producers had a respectable number of product introductions here, buyers at the recent Tupelo Furniture Market appeared to be more interested in shipping and logistics issues.
Exhibitors said shipping times and delivery dates were key discussion points with virtually every buyer, and sources with domestic production and/or a domestic warehouse said they had the upper hand in getting the order.
"Retailers want companies that are dependable ... so they can plan their promotions," said Jay Quimby, vice president of sales at United Furniture, which has factories in Mississippi and North Carolina. "With a domestic resource, they don't have to buy deep."
And with retailers still skittish about carrying lots of inventory, Quimby and other upholstery executives said the quicker the retailer receives his order, the better.
"If someone asks us how quick we can ship it, we ask them how soon their truck can be here," quipped Skipper Holliman, president of HomeStretch, a Mississippi motion upholstery producer that opened its factory only six months ago. "Quick shipping is what we're all about."
Ron Teeter, vice president of marketing and merchandising at Mississippi-based Affordable Furniture, agreed, noting a recent spike in interest in domestic goods.
"This plays well into our model, which is to get them everything from the U.S. in a week," said Teeter.
Even those companies that do importing had few if any takers on container-sized orders. Given the dramatic rise in shipping rates in recent months, and the lack of available space on cargo ships, retailers large and small were almost exclusively interested in goods that are made or warehoused in the United States, executives said.
That means companies with no domestic production must fill their warehouses - and lighten their bank accounts considerably - in order to meet demand.
"We rolled the dice and stocked our warehouse (in Dallas), but it's paying off for us," said Vickie Davis, director of sales and customer service at leather upholstery importer Soflex. "Our big thing is 24-hour shipping, and people are really responding to that."
Greg Roy, president of Lane, said the company now has more than 400 SKUs in its quick-ship program, known as Lane Express, and demand could push that number even higher.
"Folks are going to lean on us for express shipping, and we have to keep the factories humming to keep up with that," Roy said.
He said he was pleased with the level of traffic and order-writing at the show - the company's second market since moving from an off-site showroom into the main Tupelo complex.
Equally upbeat about traffic and order-writing was Don Hunter, senior vice president of major accounts at Catnapper. He said dealers responded very favorably to a new foam encased coil seating system the company is implementing throughout the line, as well as a motion seating group covered in a backed polyester fabric that resembles leather.
The new seating group, named Eclipse, features a sofa retailing for $799.
"This could be our top seller in the next few months," Hunter said. "The response has been phenomenal."
Several executives said motion, in general, has been the standout performer in the upholstery business in recent months, and most expect no slowdown because the category is easy to promote and isn't quite as fashion-driven as stationary upholstery. Plus, the sale of motion upholstery is often tied to the sale of flat-panel televisions, which remain hugely popular.
"Motion is definitely the fastest-growing part of our business," said Teeter.
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