Joan Gunin — Furniture Today,
Sales roll in despite spotty traffic

AT THE MARKET — Despite some fits and starts and scattered traffic patterns, leather upholstery executives here said they are garnering their share of commitments from buyers.

Market, as usual, began early in the week for the retail heavy hitters and dwindled as the days wore on. The market cycle seems to be shaking out as marketgoers decide which markets to attend and when.

“Dealers, even those with scheduled appointments, came in early,” said Harry Cierler, director of North American operations for Italy-based Chateau d’Ax. “Traffic is good but the patterns are changing.”

Eustachio Nicoletti, managing director of Nicoletti, agreed. “Five or six major accounts bought early on, on Tuesday, and we are very happy about the results.”

At Italian-owned DeCoro, Heath Corso, executive vice president, noted, “We’ve had great feedback from buyers to our lifestyle looks and good placements.”

All five new designs added to Jaymar’s ETC. in-stock program will go into production. “We received a lot of commitments on all five,” said Gary Zuckerman, the Canadian company’s vice president of sales and marketing for the U.S. “That’s a good track record.” The new frames include three stationary sofas and two sectionals.

However, Zuckerman said, “Traffic was soft and it will be chronically soft going forward.” He ascribes the sluggishness to “a mixture of too many markets, combined with the economics of the furniture business. The retail climate is spotty in regions.

“With two markets in Vegas and two in High Point, perhaps more than a fair share of people are minding the store more closely and picking and choosing their markets,” he said.

At Cheers Sofa/Man Wah Holdings, new President Stephen Barr noted “an absence of independents,” although many of the Top 100 did visit. As with Zuckerman, Barr attributes the slowdown to “a lot of markets.”

Bradington-Young President Scott Young was buoyed by the company’s new showroom location in the Commerce Wing of the main building.

“We saw three times the traffic on Tuesday and Wednesday than in our former outlying building (on King Street),” he said. “We are selling people who had never seen our product because we are now on the beaten path, not off the beaten path.”

 At Natuzzi Americas, President Fred Starr said new dealers continue to trade up to higher values.

“Our lines are now clearly segmented by brand and product,” he said. “It was a huge challenge but we have turned a corner. We are extremely encouraged and continue to build our three bands with greater success and clarity.” 

Roy Calcagne, senior vice president of upholstery for Universal Furniture, was pleased with the expansion of the new Loft Leather program. Four of the six introductions did very well, he said, including one
contemporary and three transitional styles. The West End frame also drew raves as both a sofa and a home theater sectional, said Calcagne.

“The Loft Leather collection received high marks for styling direction and pricing (from $1,099 to $1,199),” he said.

The leather program supplements the loft upholstery collection Universal introduced last market and expanded for this market.

“Now that we’re in our fourth market — and here to stay — a lot of the regional dealers who had not purchased yet were buying this time,” Calcagne said. “New dealers are accepting us, while existing dealers are expanding their programs from two or three frames to six or eight.”

Palatial Furniture, an Asian importer, also is in its fourth market cycle. “We are quite happy to have some distribution challenges to work out,” said President John Hoff.

He said Palatial is doing well at market with a new warehouse program. “Dealers were pleased they no longer have to put up huge dollars for container orders,” Hoff said.

Furniture Now, the revamped San Diego warehouse program from LeatherTrend, a division of Robinson & Robinson Group, was also off to a good start. “We have repositioned our in-stock delivery with a larger selection across all divisions (leather, fabric, motion),” said President Bryant Dickens.

Flexsteel, meanwhile, is bolstering its leather color palette and is adding Harrison, a versatile upholstery frame that is picking up orders in both leather and fabric versions. Lee Fautsch, vice president of residential upholstery, said the domestically produced piece is available in sofa or sectional configurations.

Larry Smith, senior vice president of corporate marketing at BenchCraft, said some retailers here are looking to step up.

“Dealers are tired of bottom fishing price points and are looking for upscale and lush luxury at very attractive mass price points,” he said. “We’ve stepped up our whole program with better leathers and design looks, including Walk in the Woods, a new collection featuring exposed wood frames.”

La-Z-Boy said it is doing well with the smartly styled Benton sofa, as well as its new four-frame leather club chair program.