Steve Silver hosts ‘Bachelor' in Vegas showroom

Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, January 28, 2013

LoweLAS VEGAS - Casual dining, occasional, upholstery and home office source Steve Silver is making sure it has a good story to tell and some surprises in store for buyers in its debut at the Las Vegas Market this week.
     One surprise guest will be 28-year-old Dallas-area entrepreneur Sean Lowe, a friend of the Silver family who is best known as the newest star of TV's "The Bachelor."
     Lowe operates The Factory Girl, a furniture and accessories retailer based in Forney, Texas, with Clay and Jessie Silver, two of company founder Steve Silver's children.
     Lowe, who recently set a Guinness world record for "longest on-screen kiss" with co-star Lesley M., will hand out roses during a cocktail party in the Steve Silver showroom at 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28, in World Market Center A-1016.
     Another big story for Steve Silver this market is its release of consumer tested product, aiming to give retailers confidence that new product will sell, said David Corbin, chief operating officer. He said the company is working with several online market research firms that allow Steve Silver to target recent or future product category specific shoppers based on their gender, education and income levels, among other attributes.
     The research is twofold, Corbin said. Focus groups are surveyed, sometimes over several days, to help develop ideas into product samples or renderings.
     Those renderings This Briana group from Steve Silver went through a new online consumer product testing process that the company is using to help determine whether its introductions will sell.are shown to several hundred consumers chosen nationally who are paid to rate prototype drawings and finishes, and tell how much they would pay for specific item features like scratch resistance.
     The process is used to help assure that the most appealing products will be introduced at market, Corbin said.
     In Las Vegas, the company is offering more than 30 SKUs in casual dining and occasional. It also has a new collection of fully welded, commercial grade barstools.
     "The main benefit of it is that you're pre-testing the product and you're eliminating a lot of the mistakes that you might make if you didn't have that kind of guidance," Corbin said.
     The company began gathering and using the feedback last summer. He said similar researched proved valuable at his companies where he previously worked, including Pulaski, where mothers and children were surveyed for the Build-A-Bear Workshop product line.