Larry Thomas
Touted as best gowth segment of industry

AT THE MARKET — Sales of flat-screen televisions are soaring, and producers of entertainment furniture say retailers are missing a huge sales opportunity if they aren’t offering styles that accommodate the latest in TV technology.

A massive array of wall systems, consoles, storage systems and the like can be found throughout High Point this week, and producers say interest in such products may be at an all-time high.

“It’s the most growth-oriented category at this market,” said Eric Shupak, president of Furnitech, an importer of consoles. “This is an incredible moment for this type of furniture.”

As evidence of the growth potential, some form of entertainment furniture can be found in at least three dozen showrooms, including many companies either making their debut in the category or significantly expanding their offerings.

“It’s a tidal wave,” said David Urbanick, vice president of marketing and merchandising at Philip Reinisch, one of the companies showing entertainment furniture for the first time. “The key to the entertainment center business growing is the technology of the electronics industry.”

And producers say the electronics industry today is all about plasma, LCD and DLP. In short, that means flat-screen technology and a wide-screen format.

And for furniture, that means the traditional TV armoire won’t work, but a sleek console or scaled-down wall system probably will.

“The only (television) selling now is the wide-screen format, and the armoire just won’t accommodate them,” said Raymond Carringer, sales manager at Signature Home Furnishings.

At market, Carringer said his company is having success with several new units, notably a console designed for a bedroom that accommodates a mounted 51-inch plasma TV. The item features a door panel that covers the TV screen when it’s not in use.

“This has been a big hit at market,” he said of the patent-pending design.

Also enjoying a successful market in entertainment furniture is Magnussen Home, which expanded its showroom for a major product rollout.

President Jeff Cook said he is especially pleased that the products are being placed with both consumer electronics stores and furniture retailers.

“We couldn’t have asked for better acceptance of this product,” Cook said. “The response has been overwhelming.”

Cook and several other executives say versatility is the key to the latest entertainment furniture designs. Most of the newest wall systems are designed so that consoles can be sold separately or in tandem with pier units, occasional tables and the like.

“We’ve had great response to our lower-profile walls,” said Linda Owen, vice president of national accounts and marketing at Riverside. “But there’s still a lot interest in models with bi-fold doors and other types of doors that hide the TV.”

Tamara Evans, vice president of imports at Progressive, said her company’s four new home entertainment collections also coordinate with occasional tables. Two of the entertainment units are modular, and they will accommodate screen sizes up to 52 inches, she explained.

Plus, coordinating them with occasional tables encourages dealers to display the new products in vignette settings.

“It’s tough for the retailer because they don’t know what to put on the floor, but this makes it easy to put a whole program together,” Evans said.

Exhibitors say their success with product introductions is coming in spite of modest market traffic. Producers say their showrooms were relatively busy Tuesday through Thursday, but tapered off considerably Friday and Saturday.

“Obviously, the head count is down, but the majors we wanted to sell are all here,” said Karl Eulberg, vice president of sales at Kathy Ireland Home by Martin. “We opened up several significant new dealers.”