High-end sofas keep quality at High Point Market
Most sources won't cut corners to hit price
Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, April 5, 2011
Pearson ads zest to a Federal style frame by updating it with a menswear fabric and welted back and seat cushions.
AT THE MARKET - Higher-end upholstery brands are showing big new collections and product lines here, but are generally refraining from tinkering with their price points in order to coax in business.
While some upper-end vendors said they've run promotions and incentives to stimulate sales, most said they haven't dropped prices because that would mean altering construction details and quality.
"If you try to do something other than what you are, it just doesn't work," said Mark Gilmore, national sales manager for upholstery source C.R. Laine.
A key element this market at the high end - and across all price points - is the Made in America theme and the ability to customize, giving retailers and consumers so many ways to buy upholstery that the number of options may make their heads explode.
Not only are there selections available in hundreds of fabrics, sizes by the inch or foot, and various cushions, legs, backs and arms, but it has become common for manufacturers to offer several finishes for wood features.
Other key themes this week at the high end:
New collections:
- Barbara Barry, who has returned to high-end manufacturer Baker from competitor Henredon, has some 60 pieces in her new collection, including 13 upholstered items in soft, light colors and clean-lined frames.
- Century has a garden and botanicals feel in the showroom, but the new Bob Timberlake rustic/lodge/seaside/sportsman/mountain collection is the attention-getter. home It includes plaids, wools, fabric/leather combos, cords, waxed canvas and details with function first, form second - for example, a bed side rail that works as a step for the grandchildren. The collection includes some 50 upholstery SKUs.
- Schnadig has stepped up with its own version of lodge in its Schnadig Home portfolio, although not necessarily the type you'd have to put in a cabin. Featured prominently in River Run is a large sectional in"brown sugar" patterned microsuede with a leather band detailed across the back. Close by is a group targeted at younger consumers that includes jute used vertically on the arm panels of the sofa.
Also getting strong reviews at market is the new DwellStudio collection for Precedent. It includes interesting fabrics but also patterns that fit the category of "the new neutrals," subtle and subdued.
Hickory White summarizes the themes of contrast and details with a stark white sofa with bold, bright pillows. It's also showing flange trim instead of welts, pillows with mitered squares, texture against texture, and color against color.
Michael Delgaudio, creative vice president, said those added details are the things that distinguish the product, like the fine leather interior of a Bentley.
While most exhibitors are offering slip covers - some washable, some not - Vanguard is going even further by slip-covering cocktail tables, bookcases and other pieces.
Flame-stitching, although in a new form, also is being revisited by producers, and big, bold plaids, hound's-tooth, herringbone and other manly fabrics are everywhere.
Upholstery producers have gleaned that the upholstered headboard category can be a new money-maker and retailers have endorsed it because headboard displays don't take much space. The popularity is being pushed by television shows like "Mad Men," which uses a number of them, and by the choice of looks provided by fabric.
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High-end lines keep focus on quality
May 2, 2011
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