Price is king (mostly) in home office
By Tom Edmonds -- Furniture Today, January 27, 2003
San Francisco — A few new ideas and lots of imports characterized the home office programs on display here.
With no major new technology demanding new furniture configurations, many producers are trying to differentiate their assortments with price, which is where the imports come in.
As an example of the low-price values hitting the market, Surewood Oak came to San Francisco with a desk-hutch combination in oak veneer at $250 retail, which would appear to be competition not just for furniture stores but for office superstores too.
Although price may be king for the moment in many quarters, this market didn't abdicate its traditional role as a testing ground for home office ideas. A handful of new configurations showed that producers haven't all converted to a commodity approach.
Among the most novel, Stuart's Fine Furniture introduced a highly customizable library system to go with its office wall. The library shelving includes a mobile ladder for reaching the top levels.
"Basically, we've incorporated our wall system into a home office, and this can easily accommodate home entertainment as well," said Greg Willden, vice president of sales and marketing. "This is for the customer who wants to take a room and maximize storage and function."
By developing products and systems for consumers willing to pay $3,000 and up, Stuart's intends to defend its niche against commodity competition.
"Even though there are a lot of stores scrambling to buy imports, our dealers know there is still a consumer out there who wants it just right," Willden said.
Unfortunately for the glut of factories that entered the category at its peak three years ago, the demand for custom home office or ready-to-use home office is not particularly robust.
"There are so many more choices for home office furniture now than there were three years ago, but the growth rate just isn't there," said Jeff Grubb, president of The Orman Grubb Co.
The problem, from Grubb's perspective, is the absence of exciting new technology to stimulate furniture purchases. "People may be buying computers, but all they're doing is going from a Pentium III to a Pentium IV," he said. "So what? That doesn't make anyone buy new furniture."
Nonetheless, Grubb and others said the category is still stable, and it's a staple for many San Francisco exhibitors.
Winners Only is trying to stimulate demand with a new version of an old standby. The company introduced a couple of rolltop desks designed to fulfill all the functions of a computer armoire, as long as the consumer uses a flat-screen monitor.
"People went to armoires because the rolltops didn't do what they needed," said Sheue-Wen Lee, chief executive officer. "But now, with the flat-screen technology, we can make rolltops that have all the functions people want and need."
The new Winners Only models have wire management systems, two keyboard tray size options and desktop power supplies, with surge protectors. Perhaps most importantly, they are only 29 inches deep, which makes home delivery much less problematic than it was when rolltops were typically 36 inches deep.
At Hidden Grove, the company that hides exercise equipment inside office furniture cabinetry, a new promotional model at $2,499 should give retailers something they can promote.
"Our dealers needed to let the fitness customers know they had the option of putting their equipment inside their cabinetry," said Ken Levi, president of Turnkey Products, which has developed the Hidden Grove line.
