Harden updates Studio concept
Features new colors schemes
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, April 11, 2008
AT THE MARKET — Harden Furniture is introducing an updated version of its Harden Home Studio to retailers here this week, with new colors schemes and changes designed to cut down clutter and better reflect today’s fashion sense.
The 1,000-square-foot Studio concept debuted two years ago and led to double-digit increases in the sales of the company’s high-end product, according to Harden. Martin Roberts of Grid2 designed it, based on research by Al Wight of Strategic Decisions.
At this market, Harden is freshening the presentation with new bedding, textiles and upholstery fabrics, matching wall colors and wood finishes. The company also reduced the number of backlit kiosks used through the Studio.
“They were successful, but a little intrusive, a little too bright,” Roberts said.
Several displays now feature furniture raised on platforms covered in a white canvas, and the colors of the display structures have changed from wood tones to a fashionable black and white. This includes new two-sided, four-foot by eight-foot posters with black-and-white photo images and messages that play up Harden’s strengths — “Customized Cabinetry,” “Personalized Upholstery,” “Sustainable Forestry” and “American Craftsmanship.”
Many of the changes aim to reduce distractions and enable the customer to focus on the merchandise, Roberts told a group of retailers at a presentation in Harden’s showroom here.
Colors chosen for the vignettes are strawberry (Roberts noted that car dealerships use the red Ferrari to draw people in even if they’re selling the Lexus), aqua, chocolate, vanilla, cinnabar and cream. The hues are reflected in everything from wall colors to bed linens to wood finishes and fabric selections.
While retailers choose whatever product they want for the displays, the Grid2 design encourages maintaining an eclectic mix of collections in the vignettes to reflect the way consumers shop and buy, Roberts said. The emphasis remains on highlighting all the options available for high-end consumers, including some 32 wood finishes and 880 fabric choices.
Some 46 of the 52 stores that signed onto the program since it was introduced have rolled out the Studios at an initial set up cost of about $10,000, said Doug Cleveland, Harden’s national sales manager. Those dealers will be offered the updates at no additional cost. The set-up costs aren’t changing for anyone planning a new Studio either, he said.
“It’s a pretty sharp program for a reasonable cost,” Cleveland said, adding that the inventory investment for a Studio is about $40,000 at cost.
