Bedroom evolves with the times
King-size beds, new case piece configurations among the trends
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, March 17, 2008
High Point — The traditional bedroom suite is continuously changing to keep up with changing times.
The current economy, home sizes and what other furnishings people buy are all having an impact on bedroom sales.
And while queen-sized beds still lead the marketplace, king sizes are gaining ground in many areas of the country.
These are some of the trends that emerged in recent interviews with retailers and manufacturers about the latest developments in bedroom.
Rethinking nightstands
Bruce Selik, owner of Hillside Furniture, said that in his town of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., most of the beds sold are king size and flanked by a pair of nightstands. Maybe in New York or Boston, smaller homes and apartments need smaller sizes, but that's a different market, Selik said.
Gray Pennell, merchandising director for Top 100 retailer Furnitureland South of High Point, also sees strong sales of king-size beds. And those beds usually are sold with two nightstands. The two cases give nice symmetry to the room, Pennell said. In a smaller room with a full bed, one lamp could provide enough light, but a king bed is nearly two feet wider and thus needs a lamp on each side.
Because more people want a king-sized bed, Universal is rethinking its nightstands. Many rooms aren't big enough to accommodate a 74-inch wide bed and two bulky cases. At next month's High Point Market, Universal's introductions will include some nightstands at 30 inches to 32 inches, according to Stephen Giles, senior vice president of merchandising.
Several manufacturers said they sell 1.6 to 1.8 nightstands for every bed. Some sell even more than that, because the piece doesn't always go in the bedroom.
Kelly Cain, senior vice president and case goods product manager at Stanley Collections, previewed a new nightstand at this month's High Point premarket that easily could work as a hall chest.
While multiple bed options are common for Stanley's youth division, Young America, Stanley Collections usually limits itself to three bed types at premarket and sometimes drops that offering back to two for actual cuttings. This time, the company showed five beds, not including stain and lacquer finish options and different widths like queen and king.
While nightstands may be seeing increased activity these days, another piece in the bedroom is quickly going away.
The armoire, or wardrobe, was originally intended to store clothing for rooms that didn't have closets. The tall cabinets allowed clothing to suspend from hangers with space underneath for socks, undergarments and shoes.
Over time, builders placed more emphasis on closets, reducing the need for wardrobe storage. Then when families started placing TVs in the bedroom, manufacturers adapted the cabinet to hold electronics, rebuilding consumer interest.
Because these armoires could go in the bedroom or living room, Jack Richardson, American Drew president, said he recalls a time when he sold more cabinets than beds. Now, however, armoire sales are "terrible."
Out goes the armoire
The progression to flat-panel TVs means a lot of space is wasted inside the unit behind the TV. Furnitureland South's Pennell said that armoire sales are falling off, except for units that are broad enough for today's widescreen-ratio TVs.
Also, many of today's bedrooms have two or more windows, leaving little wall space against which to put the bed, drawer chest and armoire.
"Nobody buys them anymore," said Hillside's Selik about armoires. In some suites on his floor, the cabinet isn't even displayed.
Page Wilson, Pulaski's vice president of sales and marketing, said he only sells about 40% as many armoires as beds now. Joe Hill, president and chief operating officer at Wynwood, agreed, saying armoires used to be about 60% of bed sales, but that number is dropping.
If customers do buy the armoire, then they often buy one less case piece to fit in their rooms, Pennell said.
Underbed storage
Another factor influencing retailers' bedroom merchandising is that "underbed storage has become more important," said Roger Friesen, president and CEO of Casana. Platform beds are a hot trend these days, but he said the bedroom has to be as much about function as it is style. Drawer systems built under the beds can hold nearly as much clothing as a drawer chest.
Efficient closet organizers also have increased storage capacity, said Pennell.
Consumers still prefer dressers, manufacturers say, mostly because of tradition, but also because the piece can fit under a window if needed. Friesen said Casana sells about nine dressers for every 10 beds, while other sources said the ratio is closer to 1:1.
Sales of dressers' usual companion piece — mirrors — are dropping, however, according to American Drew's Richardson and others.
The mirror sells only with about 80% of dressers these days, said Bill Sibbick, vice president of sales for A.R.T. Furniture.
If the dresser/mirror set is promoted as a unit, then consumers will buy it, said Pennell, but many don't because they want a place to put a television instead of a mirror.
Selik agreed, saying the more upper-end the product gets, the less often consumers buy the mirror. Wealthier people want to buy their own mirror and give the room a more eclectic look, he said. Cheval mirrors aren't selling, either. Homes often have full-length mirrors on the back of doors or across the front of closet doors.
If mirror and armoire sales are declining, what piece could grow to fill that void? Sales of five- and six-drawer chests are up at Hillside, said Selik.
Sibbick said when A.R.T. started up in 2003, drawer chests were not big sellers. Currently, however, drawer chests are about 60% of bed sales, up from about 30% before.
These numbers could increase going forward as more manufacturers develop chests that incorporate entertainment function. The chest needs to be sturdy enough to hold the TV's weight, stand at a height that maximizes visibility, and offer space for electronics like a DVD player and cable/satellite receiver.
Magnussen has new chests between 42 inches and 45 inches high to get the TV above some of its sleigh and panel footboards. American Drew has an armoire with a finished 38-inch base that can be sold separately for TV use. Stanley's Continuum collection also has a 42-inch armoire base that can be sold by itself.
Vaughan-Bassett had a number of TV chests on display at premarket, as did Universal, which has a patent pending on a chest that features top drawers with fold-down function to access electronics.
Sister company Legacy Classic also offers this feature as well as open storage. It has a chest with drawer-sized doors that swing open to reach the DVD player.
