Target stands out from the crowd
By Tom Edmonds -- Furniture Today, February 16, 2004
MINNEAPOLIS — MINNEAPOLIS— Among discounters and mass merchants, Target continues to stand out in furniture for its combination of unique styles and pieces and affordable values.
Its Furio house brand, supplied by several leading U.S. ready-to-assemble furniture factories, offers a standard assortment of office, entertainment and bedroom pieces. Usually in clean, transitional styles, pieces are priced predominantly below $100 and rarely over $150, consistent with Target's niche as a discounter.
But with its imports and other pieces, the chain distinguishes its furniture department, which typically takes up three 20-foot aisles and the length of the back wall at the end of those aisles.
The imports, also part of the Furio program, allow Target to offer simple solid-wood pieces at promotional prices, along with several accent pieces in coordinating finishes. For instance, a two-panel screen has the same wood frame and dark finish as the furniture pieces, but the rattan panels have a contrasting golden finish. For consumers on a budget, this is high style. The small-scale, solid-wood kitchen, home office and living room pieces generally fall in the same price range as paper-laminate RTA items.
Among non-Furio furniture programs, Target continues to offer Sauder's QBits modular cube program as well as Renovations by Thomasville, a brand developed for the chain by Creative Interiors.
Both QBits and Renovations have enjoyed prominent positions in the assortment for two years.
Recent additions include a small group of "mudroom" furnishings and an eye-catching collection of no-tools-required paper-laminate RTA pieces from Fasil.
Fasíl uses an interlocking construction method that requires no fasteners, featuring a natural birch finish and funky contemporary styling. Pieces range from a $29 magazine rack to a $179.99 entertainment center. Mudroom pieces include a storage bench with hooks at $129.99.
Target adds life to its furniture with posters on the walls above the displays. These make the furniture easier to find in the big SuperTargets, which combine general merchandise and groceries.
