— Furniture Today,
TUPELO, Miss. — Upholstery manufacturers adjusted price points and turned up the heat on market promotions to stimulate business in a lightly attended summer market here this month.


United Furniture, for instance, departed from its $299 and $399 core retail price points to move into $499 and $599 sofas after a survey of customers indicated they wanted to step up, said President Larry George.
“We wanted to take it to a new level and make it easier to broaden our line out,” George said.

Ashley concentrated heavily on the $399 retail price point here, stressing value with dressmaker skirts, microfiber velvets, leather-look covers, 1.8-inch foam cushions and hardwood frames. In all, the company offered more than 15 groups in the price point in its Ashley and Signature showrooms.

In addition, the company’s Signature division offered a two-piece sectional at $799 retail, which could be expanded with an armless piece for $999. A pub back sofa with pillowtop arms, loveseat and recliner group in textured microfiber was targeted at $999.

Kerry Lebensburger, president of sales for Ashley’s upholstery division, said the company’s goal is to add quality while taking costs out of upholstered goods as a means of competing with the influx of Chinese imports.

“We were not here to play, we were here to win,” said Lebensburger. “They’re good competitors, and we have a lot of respect for them.”

He said retailers on the West Coast might find some cost advantage in Chinese goods. But by the time imported product is shipped to the Midwest, he said, there isn’t enough price difference to overcome the freight factor, extended delivery time and other problems.

At upholstery manufacturer Genesis, Tim Mueller, vice president and director of marketing, expressed similar views.

“(Importers) may have me in labor, but with freight up, oil up, we still don’t cost that much more,” he said. “But you can’t dismiss them out of hand.”

Genesis was offering two versions of a large, low-silhouette, California-style sofa in chenille and velvet with two roll pillows to retail for $699 and $799. Sofas are 98 inches in length with a seat depth of 44 inches.

“We’ve never really tried these (before),” said Mueller, adding the introduction received a good response.

Affordable freshened up a couple of $299 retail numbers with new covers, and added a leather pattern sofa for $399; with loveseat, $799. A two-piece sectional was offered at $699.

Rose Hill added step-ups in its Kings Creek collections and specials like five-piece upholstery and occasional groups to retail at $450 and $500.

“We see a lot of majors going to a lot cleaner look in style,” said Hunter Bigham, vice president of sales. In addition, color is playing a more important look in upholstery, he said.

“We wrote orders. People are starting to stock up,” he added.

Nuance Fine Furniture was back in Tupelo after pulling out earlier, and had five or six of its best sellers ($999 to $1,499) on display.

“They gave us an offer we couldn’t refuse,” said Tom Schmidt, vice president of sales. He said the company also has added sales reps and wanted to expose product to Tupelo buyers.

“We wanted to support (the market) because they’ve supported us over the years,” said Schmidt.

Style-Line was making a big push in contemporary in the $599 to $799 retail price points and wrote business at the market, said Harvey Bailey, vice president of sales and marketing.

He said one way that retailers are looking to entice consumers in the category is to offer a wide variety of colors.

“Think color and throw out the palette,” he said. “The key to the market is color.”