Showtime full of color
By Susan M. Andrews and Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, January 12, 2004
HIGH POINT — Color was clearly the star at Showtime.
With the seating business on the uptick, upholstery buyers liked having so much variety to choose from. The common mantra: "I'm here looking for something different."
And when it came to specifics, most were talking color — what they liked and didn't like, how color was clearer and less muddy, and how it would play out with the consumer.
"You're always looking for something new that you can sell," said Tom Jordan, president of Michael Thomas Furniture. He was impressed with new leathers, especially "a gold leather that will blow your skirt off." There also were new applications in bycast leather that grabbed his interest.
Conversely, Jordan felt "there was too much ugly salmony- orange stuff. That's a European color that they're pushing, pushing, pushing. It's a good apparel color but I'm not sure of the application to upholstery."
Beth Penley, vice president of design at Harden, said, "I liked the velvet looks at Craftex that emulate the European fine-cut velvets. There were also a lot of good, usable colors," citing a "fresh clear blue" and pinks. "I don't know about (pink) in our line, but it's so refreshing," she said.
Penley also praised performance fabrics from companies like Crypton and Sunbrella. But she'd like to see fewer tropicals. "Tropicals have run their course," she said.
Carolyn McLaughlin-Smith, vice president of sales and marketing for Comfort Designs, was open to everything in her Showtime search. The second-generation of microfiber suedes got her attention, but "we have to be careful because the solid suede fabric is what the consumer still wants," she said. "I also saw some very nice non-chenille and non-suede solids, especially beautiful linens."
Prices, McLaughlin-Smith said, were "up and down," depending on the vendor and the content. And with the number of resources available, factories don't expect a fabric shortage as business rebounds, although delivery may be a bit slower on the more popular patterns.
Maxey Doby, president of eXL Designs, a division of Classic Gallery, noted that color choices were abundant. He cited red, peach, dark chocolate and orange, and was especially happy about orange. "Last market, we had great success with orange," he said. If anything, he'd like to see fewer microfibers: "Everybody's got one, and they go all the way from $2.99 (a yard) to $19.95."
Bruce Hirschhaut, vice president of marketing and sales for contemporary specialist Carter Furniture, liked "the infusion of a lot of tropical colors — the Carmen Miranda colors" that he saw at Showtime (the Brazilian singer often wore a basket of fruit on her head).
He also liked the "nice return to American design of the '50s with great plain textures, great selections," and cited the creativity of U.S. mills: "I'm really pleased with the domestic guys. We'll have to look at Asia, of course. But the point is: It isn't all over there."
Hirschhaut's comments were echoed by Rich Favata, president of New Generations.
"The pressure from overseas has increased the competition (among fabric vendors) and generated a lot of creativity from the domestic sources," he said.
Favata said prices are holding steady for most product, perhaps because of vendors' greater efficiency or shorter margins, adding that he found some lower prices for plain chenille constructions.
All in all, he had a good time at Showtime. "I can't get enough of this," Favata said, "and if you don't show up here to shop, you could miss something that you might never see otherwise because they might not call on you."
Alice Stegall, merchandising manager at C.R. Laine, "shopped for dressier body cloths that would be suitable to dress up with the trendier, pricier patterns."
As for color, Stegall said the market "might have too much of the rust and spice colors, although I saw some of those paired with rich blues that were almost royal or navy, and that was a good combination. Green is coming on again too. They had great plains at Cone Jacquards, with great finishes and sharp prices.
"I also liked some Chinese jacquards," she said. "They are getting better with the colors, especially red, and the designs as well."
