High Point — One of the hottest tickets in motion furniture these days is home theater seating — and consumers don't even need a home theater in order to enjoy it.
All it takes is a large-screen television, a DVD player, and a modest-sized family room or great room.
And judging by the huge number of showrooms that displayed home theater seating at the recent High Point market, motion upholstery producers believe the business is set to explode with more power than a James Bond booby trap.
"Home theaters are the hottest trend right now in American homes," said Doug Collier, vice president of marketing at La-Z-Boy. "With the increasing cost of movie tickets and a boom in home electronics, more and more people are enjoying the latest box-office hits in the privacy and comfort of home theaters."
Once the exclusive purview of wealthy consumers who could spend $50,000 to $100,000 or more on a custom-built room, home theaters have become affordable to many middle- and upper-middle income consumers in the past year or two, as many mainstream upholstery producers have joined the fray.
Nearly two dozen producers displayed theater seating in their High Point showrooms this April, so its obvious upholstery sources don't want to be left standing in line when the box office window closes.
"We feel like our seating is for the guy with the 31-inch TV who likes to relax and watch a movie or a football game with family and friends," said Don Hunter, vice president of merchandising at Catnapper.
At a $1,499 retail price point for a three-seat configuration in fabric covers, Catnapper's theater seating is one of the most aggressively priced on the market (Ashley has a similar configuration at the same price point). But several other producers have seating groups designed to retail for less than $2,000, and many more have groups retailing for $2,000 to $3,000.
Sales have been 'phenomenal'
"The sales have just been phenomenal," said Jay Foscue, vice president of merchandising for motion at Klaussner, which rolled out its first theater seating group only last fall. "Every dealer who has picked it up is selling it."
Producers say a critical step to selling the seating is demonstrating its versatility. Many producers have groups available in a wide variety of configurations that include options such as arm storage units, chaises, wedge-shaped tables and power-reclining mechanisms.
That's why producers such as Lane and Berkline are encouraging dealers to establish small home theater galleries. Although such displays consume precious retail floor space, they believe the sales will more than make up for it.
Lane has established a partnership with electronics giant Phillips to help accomplish this task, while Berkline, one of the first mainstream producers to develop home theater seating, is providing design assistance to dealers who may not have the expertise to create a gallery on their own.
"The key is entertainment and excitement," said Cabot Longnecker, Berkline's vice president of merchandising for recliners. "This is a very good special-order item, so the dollars per square foot can be substantial."
