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Fashionable Looks Heat Up Upholstery Category

Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, August 25, 2011

Rowe Rowe says its sectionals are moving well, including the Dorset, which was new at the recent Las Vegas Market.LAS VEGAS - With a category that's moving better than most, upholstery makers finished the recent market here with reasonable attendance and a sound round of order-writing.
     Attendance was strongest from the western states, especially from retailers who have chosen Vegas as their primary market. Buyers looked for sectionals, motion and home entertainment to complement big-screen TVs, and also shopped fabrics and leathers to upgrade fashion looks.
     The poor economy has been an offhand contributor to upholstery sales at retail, some vendors said.
     With the debt ceiling crisis, threat of unemployment and possibility of a double-dip recession, consumers haven't been remodeling or moving as much, said Stefanie Lucas, president and CEO of Rowe. Instead, they're dressing up their interiors.
     Upholstery gives new life to public areas and "provides the most drama" for the investment, Lucas said, noting that consumers can add a couple of accent chairs and create a whole new look for their homes.
     Among Rowe's introductions was the RXO (Rowe's Extra Options) collection that allows customers to choose whether they want nail heads, and offers alternatives in cushion and leg styles. The company also offered new sectionals and new leather in its Robin Bruce division.
     "Expectations have gone through the roof," Lucas said, with consumers wanting plenty of options and wanting them instantly.
     Upholstery that is part of AICO's new contemporary Beverly Boulevard collection got plenty of attention here for its straightforward, clean contemporary lines on pieces such as an oatmeal tweed sectional, accented in chrome.
     Laurie Phillips, vice president of soft lines merchandising, said the company has solidified its opulent European core offerings and is expanding its range of contemporary and transitional offerings. Greg Roy, president of Lane, said upholstery seems to be selling better because the poor economy encourages consumers to stay home and entertain themselves with movies, gaming, date nights and the like.
     "Anything around the TV is selling," he said. Flexsteel added new recliners and motion and expanded its options in cushions by adding down/feather/ fiber cushions across its line of products, giving consumers yet another reason to buy upholstery.
     "I think it is a safe statement to say that wood is a pots-and-pans business. It's really different for the consumer to discern different levels of quality in wood, where upholstery is the opposite. It's far easier to differentiate levels of quality," said
     Lee Fautsch, vice president of residential sales, Flexsteel, explaining why upholstery is generating sales.
     He said fashion and color also drive upholstery sales, with Flexsteel offering plenty of both in fabric and leather.
     Greg Secard, director of sales for Best Home Furnishings, said upholstery sales seem to be holding up because consumers are replacing it more often.
     "They're staying home and wearing it out - or they just get tired of it," he said.

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Upholstery faring well as consumers stay home

Aug 3, 2011

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