Jeff Linville — Furniture Today
Special report on Casual Dining

HIGH POINT — Casual dining producers are creating better ways of getting their message out to consumers through signage, hangtags and displays.

Casual dining is a competitive category, especially with imports putting an increased emphasis on pricing, say manufacturers. Rather than simply trying to undercut the competition, creative companies are playing up strengths such as product originality, functionality and customization.

Canadel first developed an in-store display about 15 years ago, said Jean Deveault, vice president of sales and marketing. The Workshop display has been the cornerstone of the company’s sales for 10 years, he said, as about 95% of its customers have one.

The largest display takes up only 16 square feet of floor space and shows off entire table legs, table edge samples, Corian and Zodiaq table top samples from DuPont, and color panels for Canadel’s 124 finishes. The smallest display takes up even less space and shows sample drawer fronts in the offered finishes.

Offering so many options increases the amount of time a sales associate spends with a consumer, but the method is very successful when used, said Deveault. To speed up the time spent, Canadel developed a hardback sales book that shows off the groups and all the options in a quick, efficient format.

The decision-making pro-cess for consumers has been cut in half because of the displays and book, he said. This means stores can help twice as many people on a busy weekend, and “time is money in a store.”

Other casual dining manufacturers also offer in-store displays to help consumers see and touch their options, including Amisco, Chromcraft, Douglas, Saloom and Shermag.

Selling special orders
Canadel shows its 124 available finishes in a tiny footprint with this small Workshop display. (Click for a larger image)
Because Chromcraft is domestic, “special orders are an important part of our business,” said Rik Talley, vice president of sales and marketing. This requires support materials like a kiosk and catalog that help consumers not feel overwhelmed by choices.

The ColorCraft program includes in-line options as well as new paint and stain finishes and 48 new special laminates. Chromcraft plays up its use of laminate specialist Formica with business card-sized samples hanging prominently on a metal pegboard.

High-pressure laminate is very durable, Talley said, and Formica offers excellent quality. Consumers need to know this so that they can feel more comfortable with their purchase decision, he said.

Chromcraft also spends about $100 each for catalogs that go out to thousands of stores. Yes, the support materials are expensive, Talley said, but they are really worth it.

Saloom offers some specialty tabletop materials like granite, porcelain and tile, and a display shows off all of these readily to consumers, said Becki Gould, marketing director. Shoppers can mix and match these materials with the 40 available wood finishes and more than 20 table base options to suit any home.

A floor display serves as a “silent salesman” on a busy weekend when there aren’t enough associates to serve everyone at once, Gould said.

Saloom also redesigned its price list into a simpler format back in January. This selling list makes it easier for associates to understand the options and have it all on a quick reference page. Sales year-to-date have been up in 2013, and Gould believes this list has been a big reason for that.

At the April 2012 market, Amisco launched a new division named Transitions that it is supporting with a separate catalog and point-of-sale materials, including a customization center. The display offers options for table tops, table legs, glass tops, table bases, chairs, barstools, bars, metal finishes, wood top finishes, fabrics and wood seats.

Whitewood Inds. revamped its sales support materials in 2004 and has continued to improve its offerings with new catalogs and consumer handouts this year.
The entire Transitions product line offers more than 50,000 different special-order options and is part of Amisco’s ongoing quick-ship program that gets goods out the door in seven to ten business days.

John Thomas launched a program in 2004 to help retailers with their in-store presentation, online ordering and tracking, and advertising creation. Since then, the Whitewood Inds. division has continued to improve dealer materials, including a new catalog and pocket-sized consumer bro-chures. A new dealer CD includes price lists, room photography for advertising uses and PDF versions of all the product catalogs.

Rick Parker, the new CEO at Douglas, wants the company focus on its core categories of casual dining and motion. About 40% of Douglas’ show space in Las Vegas was dedicated to its casual dining and dining/game tables. A consumer walking around a store may not know that the game tables have a dining surface on the flip side, Parker said, so Douglas has a display that lifts the top up at an angle. Signage also helps explain the veneer options.

Importance of training

Some manufacturers put a lot of importance on gaining space on retail floors, said Martin Ploy, AICO executive vice president. “Selling the buyer is just the beginning of the journey,” he said.

AICO sales members spend many of their Saturdays in stores training sales associates on how to present the product, he said. New product information has a lot of verbiage, but is user-friendly so that associates can pull out details to share with consumers.

AICO Florida sales rep Frank Lorenzo said he not only visits the store owners, but he often goes in the back and talks to the warehouse workers because they handle, deliver and service the furniture, which plays a huge part in a consumer’s satisfaction. Five years ago, he began holding an annual barbecue for warehouse workers at the El Dorado distribution center in Miami Gardens, Fla. After one cookout, he estimated that he spent between $3,000 and $4,000.

The Internet has made life easier for retailers. Rather than having to keep lots of advertising materials on hand from every manufacturer, stores can access B2B sites and download PDFs.

All of Broyhill’s point-of-purchase materials are available online, said Tom Lentz, vice president of marketing and advertising, including hangtags and product signage.