HIGH POINT — The number people walking the show might be down this week, but case goods buyers who do make the trek to market could find that pricing alone on new product made the trip worthwhile.
And while April saw many manufacturers reacting to a softening retail market with fairly limited introductions in terms of sheer numbers, such is not the case in October. This week, dealers will have a lot more to choose from in most cases.
Piecewise, variations on the platform bed, a proven look in the contemporary category, are showing up in more mainstream collections; and a bigger variety of storage configurations highlight formal dining introductions. For the most parts, scales are holding steady or moderating.
Priced to move
Several factors are combining to produce some of the strongest values the case goods segment has ever seen in High Point. Expanded Asian capacity even in the face of soft retail sales in the United States has beds that might have retailed for $1,200 to $1,400 priced to reach consumers at $1,000 or less.
That allowed case goods newcomers like Klaussner and Magnussen Presidential to hit the ground running with sharp pricing on their inaugural efforts in the category.
"There are a couple of things driving pricing out of Asia," said Jeff Cook, president of Magnussen Presidential. "First, manufacturers there kept building, so that alone gave them overcapacity. Second, most people over here are down this year, even though lead times are going back down."
He added that even existing plants are updating their equipment for greater efficiency, further expanding capacity.
On the domestic front, manufacturers continue to offer low-margin, high-volume bedrooms to keep plants running. And after a round of plant closings this year, many feel they've reached a balance between capacity and demand.
Choices abound
Many exhibitors decided to prime the pump at retail with a hefty dose of new product in their showrooms here. Broyhill, for example, is introducing two whole home collections, 12 bedrooms, four dining rooms, 17 table groups and seven walls.
Hooker is adding another imported bedroom and dining collection, a domestic oak bedroom, new casual dining, three new short import bedrooms and additions to an existing import group. Also on tap are two licensed occasional collections, PGA Home Tour and Cranbrook.
"We're up 15% to 20% over a normal market," said Mike Spece, vice president of Hooker's import division.
American Drew added four bedrooms and three dining rooms.
"We tried to target a variety of distribution channels instead of hitting a massive home run with a 50-piece collection," said Tom Tilley, vice president at American Drew's parent, Ladd division of La-Z-Boy.
Kincaid's efforts to focus distribution necessitated a lot of new product.
"We started out thinking we'd have a conservative market, but we have to think about our dedicated Kincaid retailers," said Jack De Bonis, vice president of marketing. "It would have been nice to take a little breather after Laura Ashley, as big a project as that was, but we have to keep in mind that this is a fashion industry."
Not everyone is expanding introductions, however. Lexington, for instance, has about 20% less product than in April.
"Right now our average introduction is 25 to 30 products," said Bob Stec, president. "That gives us enough variety, but allows us to do something critical — service the line. We're doing more consumer research up front to come to market with confidence in the items we do introduce. We've narrowed the SKUs and tiered the service."
Henredon also pulled a punch for fall market. "We had more product, but I held back on one collection," said Mike Dugan, president. "I just didn't thing the retail appetite was there."
Low riders
The trend toward beds with lower footboards or posts has led many exhibitors to include platform-like beds, even in some fairly traditional styles. While the beds achieve the same look as platform beds, manufacturers prefer the term "island bed" to indicate that these models accent standard bedding of box spring and mattress.
"We're hearing that it's the next generation of the sleigh bed, particularly in more contemporary looks," said Tilley at American Drew.
Stanley's Quintessence collection features a platform look. The configuration is gaining in popularity, said Kelly Cain, vice president of bedroom and youth product development and merchandising.
"(The platform) is the best of the three beds in our existing Louis Philippe group by far," he said. "It keeps costs down and is a fresh look."
Storage meets display
The success in recent years of bunching curios in formal dining has manufacturers introducing more creative storage pieces for the category, especially those that offer more display capability.
Bernhardt's Belcaro, a Mediterranean-leaning introduction, features a sideboard and deep hutch that extends to the front edge of the case. "We're finding that a setting like the sideboard and hutch is continuing to take away the traditional china," said William Collett, director of merchandising for residential case goods.
Keller sought more flexibility in its American Restoration introductions with pieces designed to cut across categories. "The dining cabinet can be used as a bookcase," said Scott Armstrong, vice president of sales and marketing, by way of example. "It fits into more rooms and homes."
A better fit
Keller wanted a better fit for American Restoration in terms of size as well as function. "We're trying to scale things down a little bit," Armstrong said. "We're finding consumers are very space-conscious these days."
Shermag is keeping things reasonable as well. "Our dealers tell us that just because we can make things huge doesn't mean we should," said Bob Cappaert, creative director.
Even Henredon, a pace-setter for massive scales, took things down a notch with its Neoclassique collection.
"It's in between the massive pieces we were making and scales you see elsewhere," said Mike Dugan, president. "We don't see a trend to smaller sizes in our segment, but we need this in our line. The style fits the scale."
Stanley was one of the few to step up scales, but there it's more a function of offering a more complete range of styles.
"Elegante is the largest furniture we've ever done," Cain said. "That's part of an effort to round out the line with more traditional, formal product."
| More plant space and increased efficiency are dropping prices on imported case goods such as Magnussen/Presidential's Chatsworth bedroom. |
