Soft contemporary a hit at High Point Market
Wood vendors sell look in many variations
Tom Russell -- Furniture Today, October 26, 2011
AT THE MARKET — Soft contemporary forms with value-added features and function are capturing the attention of retailers here looking to update their floors for a new generation of customers.
Some of these forms have high gloss looks, while others are more mid to low-sheen distressed finishes that capture the essence of the wood story. Many are darker in tone, with elements of flyspecking, cerusing and even water spotting details.
Others are lighter, often wire-brushed looks retailers may like, but that don't always strike a chord with consumers.
Companies such as Lexington Home Brands are taking
see Case goods, risky moves with lighter finishes they expect will do well in the market, based in part on reaction here this week.
Lexington's new 40-piece Tommy Bahama Home collection, Road to Canberra, is a case in point. Retailers like the combination of quartered ash and mindi veneers, in a light natural tone finish with a light linen glaze.
But the wood and lighter tone finish is only part of the reason buyers are gravitating toward the Australian-influenced soft contemporary collection, the company said. Also proving popular are a number of mixed media elements ranging from woven leather and metal accents to petrified wood tops on accent tables.
"This new fresh light finish, combined with Australian-influenced design with woven leather, aged metal and petrified wood, all that ties it together in a lifestyle presentation that becomes more than just a light finish - it becomes a lifestyle collection," said Phil Haney, president and CEO. He said buyers are buying the whole collection, which includes bedroom, dining room and occasional and is expected to hit retail in January.
Mixed media also is playing an important role in Stanley Furniture's Archipelago is a 50-piece whole home collection. Dealers are responding to the casual contemporary forms, which combine elements and inspiration from Asian, Pacific, West Indies and Palm Beach style influences.
They also like the mix of pecan, walnut, walnut burl and mahogany veneers and the combination of finishes, which include two main finishes - one darker and one lighter in tone - and two additional accent finishes. These finishes have a visual story through details such as distressing, water spotting and cerusing.
Another contemporary standout this market include Ashley's New Millennium collection, which is made with a high gloss durable laminate in smooth and textured wave-like surfaces. Dealers are responding well to the finishes and the mix of functional pieces including lift storage beds and beds with storage in upholstered headboards. Other popular features include rounded edges on beds and case pieces, soft-close doors and charging outlets in nightstands.
Bedroom packages, which include storage beds, dressers, mirrors and nightstands, are targeted to retail from $2,999 to $3,499.
"We take what we know sells and what our customer base wants to sell and brought it in for a price they want to sell it for," said Kerry Lebensburger, Ashley president of sales.
Other strong performers in the casual contemporary realm this market include Thomasville Furniture's Spellbound and Drexel Heritage's Renderings collections.
Case goods resources such as Lincolnton Furniture, Cambridge Mills and Kincaid Furniture are striking a chord with their solid wood construction and complementary wood tone finishes that highlight grain patterns.
Kincaid said its Vintage Oak, an extension of its Homecoming collection, is receiving high marks - and commitments - for its solid oak construction with tongue and groove details, antique hardware and large overhang on tops.
Vintage Oak has a medium tone natural oak finish. Some of the popular items include a panel bed with an X-pattern in the headboard that retails at $1,599 with storage, a 65-inch X-base round pedestal table with a lazy susan that retails at $1,500 and an $1,199 kitchen island with butcher block top and drawer and shelf storage.
A related accent furniture and short bedroom collection, Vintage Accents, uses American chestnut reclaimed from old barns. Retailers appreciate the company's ability to capture the aged essence of the wood by using a three step wood finish. The company even left old wormholes and black marks from oxidized nails in the wood.
"So much of what is successful about it is the authenticity of it," said Max Dyer, vice president of marketing. "It is like the comfort food of furniture."
Aspenhome's Hathaway Hill is having a successful expansion into bedroom this market, the company said.
Dealers appreciate the updated traditional French influences of the group, which developed from a home office introduction in Las Vegas this summer. Made with reclaimed cherry veneers in a black truffle finish, it features king panel beds with storage that retail from $1,500 to $1,900. Dealers like the mix of pieces including a panel bed with an upholstered leather inset, a desk chest that doubles as a workstation and the deep set drawers in case pieces.
Companies such as Aspenhome also are showcasing new merchandising strategies to help retailers maximize their floor space with recommended floor plans. This market, for example, Aspenhome is taking its bestselling Cambridge bedroom and showcasing the line in a single dedicated area of its showroom to let retailers see the line in all of its three finish options and with different styles and sizes of beds.
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