Clint Engel — Furniture Today,
HIGH POINT — With the High Point Furniture Market kicking off this week in a challenging business

climate, retailers have their eye out for anything and everything available to drive traffic.

Even retailers who are doing well will be hunting for traffic builders.

It’s not just a matter of price, they say — it’s a standout value. Buyers are on a quest for sources with the fastest and most reliable service. They’re looking for what’s new in their hottest categories, including leather and motion upholstery, and they want more fashion-forward thinking from suppliers.

“We’ve been pretty successful, but I’ve found it really takes a little harder work,” said Dan Johnson, director of merchandising for the two-store Boulevard Home Furnishings in St. George, Utah. He said too many retailers pull back when times are tough, when it’s really the time when a little hard work can lead to market share gains.

That’s why Boulevard has spiked up advertising and why Johnson is here working the market aggressively. He’s hoping to find suppliers focusing on the female shopper, and looking for “wow” pieces and “something that shows you’re a leader.”

His shopping list includes nicer fabrics and sofas that can retail between $899 and $1,299. He also wants less boxy, more decorative case goods with nice finishes, including five-piece master bedrooms that can retail between $1,299 and $2,000.

AICO is doing a good job in both categories, Johnson said, and he’s also eager to see what’s new at Bernhardt and Broyhill.

Business has been challenging this year for most retailers, but it’s unclear whether that will cloud the buying mood in High Point.

Florida, one of the hottest retail markets for years, has spiraled down this year, due in part to a stalled housing market. Sales for Fort Lauderdale-based City Furniture are up for the year, but President Keith Koenig said the last few months have been challenging, with its first back-to-back monthly same-store sales dips.

Still, Koenig, whose business is in the midst of a major remodeling, is optimistic South Florida will resume its growth soon.

The joke at the July Las Vegas market was that business is so bad “even the retailers that don’t pay their bills aren’t buying,” recalled Leslie Fishbein, president of the six-store Kacey Fine Furniture in Denver.

Competition from new channels of distribution, the Internet and global economic issues “made us look at our business model and re-evaluate it,” Fishbein said. Kacey spent last year making changes to run “leaner, faster and smarter,” she said, adding, “There not a lot of room for fluff in this new economy.”

She expects her suppliers here to rise to the challenge.

“Some of our manufacturer partners are coming up with ways to stimulate business, ranging from price to delivery options to specials,” Fishbein said. “There are more manufacturers (and product) chasing fewer of us.”

She anticipates a decline in celebrity licensing programs, which really aren’t working that well, and more suppliers tying collections to shelter publications, such as Shermag’s new Metropolitan Home line.

Daniel Rosenberg, president of  two-store Daniels Furniture in Anaheim, Calif., has seen increased competition, on top of weak business conditions.

“We need to be a little more aggressive in advertising,” he said, and he recently boosted his ad budget with good results. He said sales this year are up about 10%, but he was hoping for 20%.

Here, he’s looking for other ways to boost business — bargains, specials and stand-out new looks, although he doesn’t expect to buy a lot.

“High Point always brings you new things even if you don’t go to buy,” Rosenberg said.

Miskelly Furniture, a two-store operation in Jackson, Miss., has had steady sales increases all this year, driven in part by rebuilding in the wake of last year’s hurricanes. Next fall, Miskelly plans to open an Ashley HomeStore, a move that’s dictating a good deal of its shopping strategy here.

It needs to replace Ashley product in its Miskelly stores, even though it’s hoping to keep the bestsellers. Some SKUs will be replaced with goods from Ashley’s Signature Design line, but the retailer needs more, said Tommy Miskelly, a partner with his brothers, Chip and Oscar.

Miskelly hopes to fill holes at $399 and $499 in fabric sofas, and in leather upholstery at $699 and $899. Finding good replacement five-piece bedrooms at $799 to $1,299 will be a bigger chore, Miskelly said, noting that few manufacturers can match Ashley’s prices and delivery speed.

In style, Miskelly is looking for more of what he said used to be called contemporary, but now is considered more transitional, aimed at consumers in their 30s and early 40s.

That translates into pieces such as leather/fabric collage sofas, and updated Louis Philippe-style case goods in merlot or coffee finishes with nickel hardware. Bigger closets in new homes mean consumers don’t need as many bedroom furniture pieces, so Miskelly is looking for more high-top dressers that can function as both a chest and dresser.

Recliners, with the exception of leather models, are a dying category, he said. The retailer is quickly replacing it with motion upholstery, and Miskelly is shopping the category hard here. And leather upholstery,  which he estimated will account for 50% of all upholstery sales for the retailer by the end of this year, continues to be a key category.

High-end contemporary retailer Huff Furniture in Atlanta is coming to market desperate for new goods, said Julie Huff, co-owner of the family business. Sales were off considerably until about two months ago, when they shot up to four times over what the store was doing a year ago. She can’t explain the sudden spike, but for a store that sells many goods off the floor, there are big holes to fill.

“It’s an exciting feeling to be really digging in and buying this market,” she said. “We need accessories, lighting and sofas.”

Huff sells ultramodern looks that she said most retailers are afraid to touch. In High Point, she’ll look for the latest from high-end sources, including those willing to customize product. Her stops will include Carson’s of High Point for upholstery and metal tables, Carter for upholstery and DIA for metal tables.

With the change in market dates, some retailers say they’ll be pressed for time here, because they’re sticking closer to the official market dates instead of stretching out their visits as they have in the past.

” ‘No goofing around and no talking’ will be the memo pinned to my forehead,” said Kacey’s Fishbein.

She has a lot of ground to cover, including stops at Flexsteel, Drexel Heritage, Hooker, Kincaid, Bernhardt, Paul Robert, Paladin, Max Home and Klaussner, all coming out with new product.

Fishbein hopes to see “all my friends. But I can’t talk to them. I’ll literally have duct tape over my mouth.”