New York — Domain, Pier 1 Imports, Basics Furniture and other stores here are in the public eye these days — more specifically, the "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."
Bravo's hit reality TV series has meant big business and great exposure for retailers that have donated furniture and accessories to the show.
"It's been unbelievable," said Adam Levine, vice president of Basics Furniture on Seventh Avenue, which was featured in a Sept. 16 segment. "They said such great things about our store."
E-mails bring proof
The morning after the show aired, Levine's e-mail was flooded with messages from people who had seen the program. About a quarter of the calls to the store that day were related to the show. Business for the week was up 20% thanks to the publicity, he estimated.
"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," launched this summer, calls its stars the Fab Five and describes them as "five gay men, out to make over the world — one straight guy at a time." Each star is a specialist in a particular category — fashion, food and wine, interior design, grooming and culture — and each episode features a new "straight guy" who could use a little work.
As they work, the Fab Five make witty, sometimes biting commentary.
"We call them 'make betters' rather than makeovers," said Marcia Turner, the program's coordinating producer, who has handled product placements and locations. "How are we going to take him to the next level?"
At Norwood, Mass.-based Domain, a Victorian settee was renamed the "chofa" (a chair and a sofa) after Fab Five interior design expert Thom Filicia dubbed it so on an early episode.
Judy George, Domain's founder and chief executive officer, at first doubted the show would mean much for direct sales or traffic, although she thought the national exposure would be a big long-term brand-building plus for the expanding chain.
But as it turned out, "chofa" sales went through the roof. Domain received about 150 calls the day after the program aired and has since looked for new ways to tie into the program, including inviting the straight guy from that episode to the recent grand-opening of its Huntington, N.Y., store, and using new chofa graphics in stores and on its Web site, noting "as seen on 'The Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'."
"It's taught us to step out of the box," George said. She said outsiders like the "Queer Eye" crew "have no barriers and they try to be fresh and creative and innovative."
Great exposure
For the small price of home furnishings donations, furniture retailers — ultimately chosen by Filicia — are getting the kind of exposure and publicity that many in the industry have been dreaming about for years.
Domain donated an estimated $10,000 in product, and Basics gave "The Queer Eye," about $5,000 in goods, including a Younger Furniture sofa and chair, Comfort Design dining chairs, a Linon table, a DL&S chair and lamps from Cardinal Products. "Some of the vendors were nice enough to donate," Levine said.
In return, Basics got time on the show with camera shots of the exterior, a lengthy shopping segment in the store, shots of the furniture in the straight guy's apartment and still more exposure with hyperlinks on thequeereye.com Web site. It also got repeated airings of the episode, which ran six times in one week alone on Bravo.
Product dream come true
"I think this show is a marketer's dream," said "Queer Eye's" Turner. "Most of the product we've had on, my corporate partners are calling me saying they can't keep it in stock."
Other retailers featured so far include ABC Carpet & Home and Portico.
George and Levine said a key to "Queer Eye's" success, and one of the reasons they were eager to participate, is that the show isn't about remaking somebody as much as it's about helping his identity and personality shine through with changes that are dramatic, but not necessarily huge or expensive.
Levine recalled a part he really liked in the Basics episode. The straight guy threw a party in his newly improved apartment, and everyone coming in the door admired the new furnishings.
"The next shot is of his mother sitting in one of the chairs," Levine said. "And the next words out of her mouth are, 'Oh my God, I'm going home, and I'm going furniture shopping'."
