Closeouts, fill-in inventory sought in Tupelo
Heath E Combs -- Furniture Today, February 18, 2011
TUPELO, Miss. - The thaw that preceded blue skies and spring-like weather this week in Tupelo might be an apt metaphor for the furniture market here.
The market was about as one would expect this week: multi-store retailers and a pool of regional stores shopping and looking for deals and closeouts and to replenish inventories.
Tim Connors of Forrestville, Md. retailer Marlo Furniture, said there's a general feeling that a down economy is lifting somewhat and many retailers are seeing an uptick.
"I haven't been here in five years and traffic looks great. I've seen 11 Top 100 retailers," Connors said. "When I showed here as an exhibitor, it was mostly upholstery...this continues to be a great show for promotions and a decent venue for accessories and imports."
Jim Sneed, CEO of Affordable Furniture, said business has been steadily increasing at retail since late last year and is expected to be even stronger "as money hits the streets through rapid refunds."
Traffic at the Tupelo market was steady through its first few days, he said.
"It's already been a good market for us. We've accomplished what we wanted to. We're up about 20% over last year's numbers both (Thursday) and Wednesday," Sneed said.
"Some huge retailers have been in," said Tim Mueller, a partner in upholstery supplier Genesis. "They really drive our business both here and in High Point."
He said an "interesting dynamic" is that retailers have become weary of rising freight, labor, and fabric costs in China and are turning back to domestic sources for product.
Kerry Lebensburger, president of Ashley case goods and upholstery, said that the company was seeing large dealers buying.
"The beautiful thing about Tupelo is that they all write orders," Lebensburger said. "We've seen Jordan's, Gardner White, Art Van, Miskelly, Spiller, Freeds. It really underscores how important the tax refunds are to this industry."
Christopher De La Guardia, East Coast vice president of sales for importer Coaster, said the company was showing more specials than ever showed at the Tupelo Furniture Market and that there's a lot of interest in bedroom and casual dining.
"The customers we're getting are writing business," De La Guardia said.
Stein World President Richard Olmeda said retailers continue to take "smaller bites" of inventory more often and that dealers began visiting the show on Tuesday.
"Vendors like us that can supply close to their needs are good for those strategies," Olmeda said.
Tic Smith, a sales representative for Aspenhome, said that the market is serving its purpose, helping open up some larger regional accounts that the company may not see in High Point or Las Vegas.
Retailers have been looking for some step-up product in bedroom and domestic entertainment consoles that retail for $299 to $399, Smith said.
Promotional domestically made desks that can sit individually and in modular configurations and come in black and cherry also have been doing well at market, he said.
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Tupelo traffic steady
Feb 23, 2011
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