The High Point Market ends today in North Carolina, after six intense days. According to the latest released data, buyers registrations exceeded 45,000 for the first time ever in the history of the world’s biggest furniture fair.
Exhibitors at High Point, the leading wholesale fair for upholstered furniture in the U.S say showroom traffic and order-writing has been heavy, with new products that deliver a high perceived value getting snapped up quickly.
Showroom business also has been boosted by solid gains at retail, which has put dealers in a positive frame of mind, according to exhibitors.
“I think people’s attitudes are as good as they’ve been in the last seven or eight years,” said Cary Benson, president of Palliser Furniture. “We’ve had a great market.”
Palliser is among the many leather upholstery exhibitors that have a heavy new product rollout. That list includes more than 20 new sofas each at Simon Li, Violino and Kuka, and only slightly fewer at vendors such as Craftmaster, Lane and Bradington-Young.
Lane’s rollout features a lineup of domestically produced motion sofas called Tanner’s Choice, sister company Broyhill has a similar program involving stationary sofas, while Simon Li’s introductions include ten leather motion seating groups and a line of freestanding recliners with power glider mechanisms.
“Our introductions have been well received and we’ve been able to get more placements with our dealers,” said Dwight Hardison, vice president of marketing at U.S. operations at Simon Li. “Our business continues to be strong.”
Many producers say they’re continuing to have success with motion. And for leather upholstery, that usually means power motion, which remains popular because it sells well at retail and boosts margins for both manufacturers and retailers.
Source: Furniture Today
