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Leather Buyers Focus on Upper Price Points

Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, December 16, 2010

HIGH POINT - Leather suppliers - many of whom faced significant increases in raw materials prices a year ago - were happy to step aside at last week's Showtime while their fabric industry brethren wrestled with similar issues.
     The result was a rather quiet but successful show for leather suppliers, as buyers focused on better-quality goods and reliable delivery schedules.
     Most executives said show traffic was about even with or slightly below the December 2009 event, but reported that buyers remained upbeat despite continued sluggish business conditions.
     "People are wanting better goods. The top end of our line is sustaining us," said Ken Kochekian, president of Universal Leather.
     Sackett Wood, president of Moore & Giles, agreed that interest in better goods was high, noting that suede covers with a luxurious nap were among the company's biggest hits.
     "There seems to be a return to a sophisticated, natural look," Wood said. "We see a lot of correlation with the footwear and ready-to-wear industries."
     Executives said the most sophisticated looks often involved colors other than brown - even though suppliers said brown still accounts for at least 80% of the leather sold to the furniture industry.
    "It all about color, color, color," said Juan Diego Casaretto, managing director of Zenda Leather, noting that shades of teal, gray and terra cotta were especially popular.
    He said the home furnishings industry typically gets its color cues from handbags and other women's accessories in Europe.
     "It used to take two or three years for those trends to reach here, but now it happens much more quickly," said Casaretto.
     Added Cathy Smith, director of design and merchandising at De Leo Textiles, "We have many follow-up appointments after the show - both in and out of the showroom. That's a very good sign."
     Zack Taylor, vice president of sales and marketing at Valdese Weavers, said buyers appeared eager to see new patterns and designs.
     "We had our biggest product introduction in about five years," he said. "Our business is up double-digits over last year, and we see no reason why that pattern won't continue."

"Even in bad business conditions, you still have to buy new products."
Jack Cobb, Morgan Fabrics

     Taylor said Valdese's position as a domestic producer has enabled the company to avoid the worst of the raw materials price hikes, and that resonated with buyers.
     "People see that as a source of comfort," he said of the company's domestic operations.
     Smith said buyers at De Leo appreciated the fact that the company sources its fabric from Turkey instead of China, where the bulk of overseas fabric production takes place.
     "There was a strong trend for anything but China," Smith said.
     Robert Cox, vice president of sales and marketing at Gum Tree Fabrics, said he didn't hear much of an anti- China backlash, but heard several reports of slightly improving business conditions.
     "It seems like business has picked up in the last two or three weeks, and that's encouraging," Cox said. "We just have to go forward with what we have, and get ourselves in the right position when the economy rebounds."
     Fred Hanes, director of new business development for Lady Fabrics, believes his company is well positioned as a supplier of fabrics made exclusively of natural fibers. Buyers at Showtime, he said, took increased interest in his product line and the environmental story that goes with it.
     "People are gravitating to the natural product area," Hanes said. "Consumers are demanding it."
     Also pleased with the show was Dorell Fabrics, which came to Showtime with new owners and a new permanent showroom on the first floor of Market Square's Textile Tower.
     "We had a great turnout at our opening-night cocktail party. Customers were very upbeat," said Tom Shepard, vice president of sales.
     "And business has held up pretty well." His only concern was the possible long-term effects of the price increases that nearly all suppliers were forced to implement.
     "Raising prices in a down economy is not a recipe for success," he said.

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Leather suppliers report modest uptick

Dec 14, 2009

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