Tax time spurs upholstery orders
Suppliers plan to keep ramping up production
Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, March 4, 2011
Fusion Furniture’s 2490 sofa in a gunmetal fabric got its first showing in Tupelo.
TUPELO, Miss. — Promotional upholstery manufacturers here have been stocking up for weeks on goods to fuel the tax refund season, and orders at the Tupelo Furniture Market this month gave them a better idea on how much more product will be needed.
Tax season is especially important to promotional vendors, accounting for 25% or more of annual sales, according to several exhibitors. Factories had already added lines and employees to ramp up production, most saying that the increase is due to an influx of business that they hope will continue with an improving economy.
"We've worked the past three or four Saturdays and will be working again this weekend," said Kelly Allen, Lane's merchandise manager for stationary upholstery.
She said that lighter colors, especially in leather, a leather and fabric accent chair program (chairs starting at $399 for fabric and $899 for leather), as well as contemporary frames were of particular interest to retailers at the Feb. 18-20 market.
Although he questioned the timing of a market sandwiched between Valentine's Day and Presidents Day, Affordable Furniture CEO Jim Sneed said traffic was up 20% over last year in the first days of the market, and said his factory is staying busy.
Fraenkel’s new looks at market included this high-backed group in gray with piping accents.
"We've added three lines since the first of the year," said Sneed, adding that delivery times were growing longer than Affordable's typical three-to-four day time frame. "That's just not our model," he said of the longer shipment periods.
While smaller, independent dealers may have been home minding the store, the majors were out in force in Tupelo, exhibitors said.
"We couldn't be more pleased," said Dean Hoover, sales manager for Hughes Furniture/Motion-Eaze, ticking off Top 100 retailers who had visited the showroom.
Hughes returned to Tupelo two markets ago after a brief hiatus to reposition itself as a promotional vendor.
"We're trying to strengthen our national affiliation," Hoover said. "We feel like we should be here in the mix for anyone who looks at promotional upholstery."
Gerald Washington, CEO of Washington Furniture Sales, said the company's $350 to $450 retail-priced sofas did well at the market. He said the company will add a $499 category when it moves to its new location in the former Lane/Action facility in Pontotoc, Miss., this spring.
"What's selling for us is the cheapest thing we've got because that's what dealers are promoting for the tax season," Washington said.
Lyle Harris, president of American Furniture, which is adding two lines of production, said that dealers were interested in stocked programs they could get goods quickly for the six-week refund season.
He acknowledge that the economy is still causing pricing pressure, but added, "If retailers can't get it, it doesn't make any difference what the price is."
Sonny Cassady of Beckham Upholstery and Cassady Closeouts said retailers were "looking for value and quickship goods" and the market was "incredible," especially through the pre-opening and opening days.
Cassady said 50% of his company's business comes from tax season, and he made sure that plenty of $199 sofas were in stock to replenish diminishing inventories at retail. He said another hot item is a well-priced sectional, adding that he had sold about 1,300 of them in two weeks.
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