JAT THE MARKET — Formal dining is taking a cue from its little brother, rejuvenating what had become a stagnant category.


Formal dining’s sales have eroded in recent years as casual dining has grown in popularity. But at this market, formal is borrowing from casual’s bag of tricks, and manufacturers are reporting success with new versions featuring leaf tables, slimmer cases and round tables.

A popular style in casual dining has been square, counter-height tables, which are small enough to allow everyone around the table to engage in conversation. For those wanting the same intimate setting in a more formal style, companies here are offering round pedestal tables in 54- or 60-inch diameters.

These tables don’t offer as much seating as a more traditional formal dining style, the 100-inch-long rectangular table, but companies including Century, Pulaski, Stanley and Magnussen Home are addressing that concern by offering perimeter leaves that take the table to 80 inches across.

That doesn’t mean that there isn’t still a market for the longer, traditional tables, according to Alexander Julian, who designs case goods for Manchester. Some consumers just have a fixed idea of what a dining group should include, and pieces have to be functional and stylish but also invoke an emotional reaction, he said.

Many case goods manufacturers had slow summers. Stanley, for instance, announced this week that its third-quarter sales were down 11% from the same period in 2012. But Kelly Cain, vice president and product manager for the Stanley Collections division, said, “Formal dining room is not any worse than anything else. In fact it’s been doing pretty well.”

“I think business in general has high spots and low spots throughout the country,” said Larry Rinaldi, president of AICO. However, “there’s no question that our dining room business is doing quite well. Formal dining at this time of year has more interest.”

Marco Confalone, Leda president, said the reported weakness in formal dining hasn’t affected his company.
“Our casual dining rooms do well, but our formal and relaxed-formal groups have always remained consistently strong over the years,” he said.

“Dining sales haven’t decreased,” said Darren York, Klaussner vice president of merchandising for case goods. “They’ve actually been a little better.”

Klaussner’s customers tend to buy collections, and both bedroom and dining are selling well, he said.
To draw buyer interest, many designers have been erasing the line between casual and formal dining. Universal has had success for the past two years with its Upscale Small Scale line, which offers a lot of look in small silhouettes.

Several companies are taking similar approaches with varying table sizes.

Legacy Classic has a dining collection with four tables, from a small round table that opens to an oval, to an 84-inch rectangular table. It also has a 54-inch counter-height gathering table and a smaller rectangular leaf table that opens from 54 inches to 66 inches.

While the 66-inch table is less expensive than the 84-inch – $699 retail compared with $899 to $999 – cost was not the factor, but rather fitting a traditional table into a smaller dining room, said President Lee Boone.
Two companies with strong casual dining backgrounds are taking their versatile approach here to formal dining.

Bermex and Canadel offer several sizes of chinas and buffets to fit more rooms. They also are showing multiple leg, table edge, apron and finish options. Something simple like changing an edge shaping can move a piece from traditional to transitional or country to appeal to many different consumers.

Several dining manufacturers are showing mirrors — rather than hutches — over buffets, sideboards and servers. The mirrors make a room feel bigger and more open, while hutches can darken a room and close it in, they said.

Besides, people don’t collect china like their grandparents did, so having a hutch is less important, said Bill Carpenter, president of Lifestyle Solutions by Elite.

Also, with prices dropping for flat-panel TVs, many wealthier consumers choose to put big televisions atop their bedroom dressers, taking a mirror out of the bedroom. Rather than lose that sale, companies are pushing to have that mirror go in other rooms.