From Where I Sit...
Welcome to the Furniture|Today weblog and, in particular, to my own piece cyber-chatter. They tell me this is the newest place to communicate, and my doing it tells you that, yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks. I go back to \'79 when F|T was a baby, and have covered almost every beat in the industry. Currently, my specialty is stationary upholstered furniture and retail technology. Occasionally, I\'d like to share some thoughts with you about the seating segment of the industry and other things as well. And since this is an open forum, I\'ll hope you\'ll share some with me.
Going nowhere
Transitional, as a word, means moving from place to another. So as a furniture style, where is it going?The answer is probably nowhere – not for a long, long time. Everyone seems to like it. Manufacturers and retailers like it because it can easily be dressed up or down, and customers told that it’s whatever they’re looking for because it goes with everything. Tables with cabriole legs, you got it... Read More
Comments (5)No knockoffs, please
Here are a few upholstery pieces that won’t be knocked off anytime soon: One is William Gordon’s Kimono Chaise, covered with obi fabric, the same finely woven fabric that’s held kimonos together through centuries of Japanese women and men (even Samurai warriors wore them). The Kimono Chaise was shown recently at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York by kimono new york, a compan... Read More
Comments (5)Just give us stability
Retailers used to worry about picking products that would sell, and manufacturers used to worry about getting retailers to buy. Life was simple then. Now both segments of the furniture chain have a new worry. It’s stability. Retailers want to know if their vendors are financially strong enough to weather the rest of this recession, and keep the goods flowing so stores don’t end up with empty space... Read More
Comments (4)Upholstery loses creative staff
The upholstery industry has lost part of its creativity. In the last six months, companies have been cutting back and letting go of people known in the industry for their ability to match fabrics to frames, who can decipher the difference between purple and eggplant and tell which of the two was about to become popular. These were the creative directors and the merchandise managers and the go-to f... Read More
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