Gary Evans — Furniture Today,
TUPELO, Miss. — Market officials here are hoping
this week’s show will entice smaller, independent mom-and-pop retailers back to Elvis’s birthplace.
Their numbers have been dwindling at the twice-a-year Tupelo furniture shows, but market President Bill Cleveland thinks that moving the dates from February to January will give retailers a chance to have goods on their floors in time for a key selling period — tax refund season.
He called the schedule change “a very tough decision to make,” noting the other markets set for early in the year. “But now that we’ve made the decision, we’re getting lots of registrations from independent dealers who say they haven’t been to market in a long time and are signing up to come to this (one),” Cleveland said.
The market officially opens Wednesday and runs through Saturday, Jan. 13.
With other markets imminent in Las Vegas, Toronto and Cologne, Germany — plus the Forbidden City mini-market in High Point — as well as home furnishings and gift shows in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Paris and Chicago, Cleveland is cautious about what this week’s market will bring.
“Pre-registrations are up and demand for hotels is up,” he said. “Those are good signs. But we’ve got to qualify that with the realities of the furniture industry. Retail furniture sales have been soft for some time, and that’s never a good environment for a furniture market.”
Early spring is a key time for exhibitors at this primarily promotional market because that’s when consumers begin receiving tax refund checks and are more likely to spend it on a sofa or bedroom group. Cleveland said buyers will be looking for promotions, closeouts and high-value goods to capture those dollars. The early opening will give merchants a better shot at success, as more taxpayers file electronically and receive checks earlier than before.
“That was the driving force — those medium to smaller retailers requesting that we move our dates up to January so they could come to market, buy product, and have it shipped into their stores and available for tax season,” Cleveland said. “That’s a big deal for a lot of our customers.”
The market encourages exhibitors to offer Tupelo-only promotions, and recognizes them by special designation in market materials. Cleveland said the number of resources offering such specials is equal to last year.
“I think there’s a core group of people who see the value of that,” he said. “It is becoming more popular with retailers who are starting to count on it to find promotions they can take back and generate sales with.”
Lane, with its own showroom outside the market buildings, is preparing product and presentations “just like any other Tupelo market,” said Skipper Holliman, executive vice president of global logistics. He said Lane is aware of a small number of majors who will be attending, but the overall feeling is that attendance will be down.
“We get a pretty accurate gauge based on the feedback our salesmen get. And according to them, there’s just less numbers,” Holliman said.
Lane always offers specials at Tupelo, but most of its new product will be shown in Las Vegas. “As you’re bringing in product, there’s a limited amount of new product samples to show,” Holliman said.
Case goods, upholstery and bedding producer Fraenkel Company will have more sales representatives than ever in its Mississippi Building space, according to Brian Akchin, president and CEO.
“I’m expecting it to be a strong market,” he said. “It’s before tax season, which is important. Being Tupelo is the promotional upholstery capital, it should be a very good market for those who are showing because I think dealers are coming with the intention of buying.
“If they can get it quickly and want some fresh looks for their floors, now’s the time to do it.”
This is Fraenkel’s main market, and the company’s introductions include eight upholstery frames, five bedrooms and six dining rooms. Akchin expects upholstery from Fraenkel’s new upholstery company, Advantage, to generate market buzz.
Plus, he’s seeing an upturn in retail business.
“With the price of gas coming down, it hasn’t spurred (business) as much as we would have liked,” he said. “But I’m hearing great reports of the week between Christmas and New Year’s. And New Year’s Day was a tremendous day for the ‘big boys.’
“I just think there’s going to be some excitement. How the government deals out rapid refunds this year is going to control how business is in the first quarter.”
