Vegas Tops Expectations

Exhibitors pleased with orders, traffic

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, August 24, 2011

LAS VEGAS - Despite fewer bodies moving through the halls of World Market Center, exhibitors said they were pleased with traffic orders and commitments at the summer furniture market here.
     Some Las Vegas Market suppliers said they were expecting worse given the continuing economic turmoil, the poor sales many retailers have been reporting, and the U.S. debt and deficit concerns. But the results here spoke for themselves.
     Calling market a "positive surprise," David Beckmann, president of Emerald Home Furnishings, said, "I didn't know what to expect. I thought it might be morose. But I haven't heard anybody complain about anything."
     Beckmann said the company "got a lot of placement. We did terrific with the upholstery and landed strongly with a couple of wood groups."
     He said the company will finish ahead of last year, which followed an increase over the previous year. "We're breathing a little easier, but we're still concerned about the economy."
     Len Burke, vice president of marketing for Klaussner Home Furnishings, said traffic over the key first two days of the market was up about 15% from a year ago. While he wouldn't provide sales figures, Burke said Klaussner was pleased with order writing here.
     "We typically don't write a lot of orders (at market), but we saw people trying to pick up some inventory expecting a good Labor Day," he said.
     Klaussner's home theater seating introduction was a huge success, he said.
     Brandunn Rush, vice president of sales, added that the shutdown of Berkline has left a void in the market for home theater. "Our customers, especially with Bruce Sinning coming on board (as vice president merchandising, upholstery) - they know we're going to be a source for that," Rush said.
     Phil Haney, president and CEO of Lexington Home Brands, was equally upbeat about this market, noting that dealer attendance at his showroom was up 15% over last summer's event.
     "Our order writing was also up as we had lots of dealers in to see our new collection, Mirage," he said. Even so, Haney still expressed concern for the economy, describing it as "still very tough."
     The ongoing sluggishness of the economy has Haney concerned about his retail customers.
     "I attribute the fact that we are up more to the success of our introduction of Mirage than to some signal that the economy is better. Clearly, there is not lot of positive economic news," he said.
     Traffic for AICO was down 6% to 8% through Tuesday, but President Martin Ploy said, "You can't ship attendance. You ship orders."
     And order writing and commitments here were very good, as AICO said it received terrific response to both Beverly Blvd - the latest collection in the Michael Amini & Jane Seymour, A Design Collaboration series - as well at its new occasional table program.
     Retailers here, including Nebraska Furniture Mart, see the contemporary Beverly Blvd as a natural extension to the standout Hollywood Swank collection, which Ploy said is selling well.
    "I have great enthusiasm for this market," Ploy said. "I just wish more vendors took the market as seriously as we do. The buyers tell us so many showrooms have no new merchandise."
     Four Hands CEO Matt Briggs described Monday's opening day as "the best Monday we've had at Vegas, and we've been an exhibitor since the very first show here."
     In addition to writing extensive orders during the show, Briggs said that the company picked up a number of new customers.
     He was thankful for the strong outing Four Hands enjoyed, especially since the show took place in the midst of the negotiations regarding the debt ceiling.
     "It is clear that the politicians in Washington have no idea of what's happening on Main Street," he said. "If they did, they would realize how dangerous it can be to create unnecessary uncertainty in the economy."
     Steve Harris, an executive at Office Star Products, which owns ready-to-assemble upholstery company Avenue Six, said the company had no real expectations about the market but ended up with a full schedule of appointments that were still going strong through Wednesday.
     "There's not a lot of order-writing for us at these markets," he said. "We're mostly looking for responses to new products. And, honestly, we've had a great reaction to our styles and fabrics. It's really been a great show in all respects."
     Arash Yaraghi, head of rug supplier Safavieh, had a strong show and attributed that success, in part, to the recession, saying it "literally forced us to develop new ideas, news products and new logistical solutions to help our dealers."
     He pointed to the company's recently opened 200,000- square-foot warehouse in Fontana, Calif.
     "By virtue of the fact that we now have large warehouses on both coasts, we've been able to save on shipping costs from Asia and have also been able to offer customers packages that include freight, which is often an unpredictable cost," Yaraghi said.
     At Homey Design, Michael Castaneda, director of quality operations, said Wednesday, "Right now we're above what we expected." He added that the market here didn't bear out the bad news of the economy.
     He said sales were good across the company's line of ornate European traditional furniture, adding, "Retailers seemed to be finding something that they liked."
     Rob Woods, president of Leggett & Platt's Consumer Products Group, said the company saw a 10% increase in traffic on Monday and a 20% increase in traffic on Tuesday of market.
     He said that order writing was strong, particularly on a new upholstered headboard program the company launched at market. In addition to specialty sleep stores, the products placed well at traditional furniture stores, one of the main goals of the new program.
     In addition, written business on the company's four new metal beds also justified the company's decision to have them put into production prior to market.
     Woods believes the activity this market will help boost sales in the second half, particularly as the new items will hit retail between September and the end of the year.
     "The first half of the year was ahead of last year, and we expect the second half to be even better," Woods said. "We've had a lot of victories this year and are expecting some more."
     Metal beds manufacturer and importer Wesley Allen said overall traffic was flat the first two days of market. However, the company was pleased with order writing activity, particularly on its imported Amanda Sutton line of iron beds and daybeds.
     The new lower-priced line has helped open new accounts for the company, which continues to manufacture and sell a higher end line of iron beds. While those domestic items still represent the core of the line, the company is pleased with how dealers are responding to Amanda Sutton.
     "It's given us positive business from people we couldn't sell before," said Terry Steed, president.
     Solid wood bedroom and dining room resource Ayca Furniture said traffic the first two days was about even with last August. By Wednesday, things had slowed considerably, said Bruce Wong, general manager.
     Still, the company was pleased with commitments and orders it received on both new and inline goods, which bodes well for business in the second half of the year.
     "The first half of the year was slow, so we see a lot of potential for the second half," Wong said, noting that interest was particularly strong for inline goods available for immediate shipping from Asia or the company's Corona, Calif., warehouse.
     Case goods resource A.R.T. Furniture saw a 20% increase in traffic the first two full days of market, said Bill Sibbick, vice president of sales. Order writing, he said, was particularly strong on a new transitional collection called Intrigue.
     While Sibbick believes inventories remain high at some retailers, many also are looking for fresh product to sell.
     "Regardless of economic factors, there is still furniture being sold," he said. "We just want to make sure we are with the ones doing the business."
     Sibbick added that A.R.T.'s sales were up in the first half of the year and that projections call for an increase in the second half as well.
     "There is some additional business we will be able to capture this year," he said.

Editor in Chief Ray Allegrezza, Senior Editor Gary Evans and Associate Editor Thomas Russell contributed to this report.