Furniture firms find 'modest optimism'

The word “optimism” is inching back into the vocabulary of some area furniture manufacturers.

For instance, Bassett Furniture Industries President and CEO Rob Spilman said he detected “a modest amount of optimism” at last week’s High Point Furniture Market.

“I think people have adjusted their business models to the times, so consequently both retailers and suppliers are learning to live with less,” he said Friday. “Once that’s shaken out ... that provides opportunity.”

He cautioned, however, that the optimism he detected is “modest.”

“When you come back home, business still is tough,” Spilman said, with unemployment and other consumer concerns still factors.

Paul B. Toms Jr., chief executive officer, president and chairman of the board of Hooker Furniture, agreed.

“Across the board they’re (customers) a little more bullish than they were six to 12 months ago,” he said, “but we’ve still got a long way to go.”

Customers remain cautious and are not ordering huge quantities of furniture, “but they feel like the worst is behind them,” Toms added Friday.

At the October 2008 market, the economic meltdown was under way, Toms said, and customers “were not sure what to make of it. By April most felt they had seen the low ... (but) people still were shell-shocked.”

Now, he said, things have been generally better for consumers and retailers for the past few months, and the stock market has risen 40 percent since April.

“That helps consumer confidence,” Toms said.

Both Hooker and Bassett had higher showroom traffic.

Spilman said Bassett had a double-digit percentage increase in attendance compared to the last market in April and also October 2008.

“We had a number of dealers who had not shopped us in some time who we have been making a lot of effort to reach out to come back to the fold or see us for the first time. That bore fruit,” Spilman said.

Hooker posted about a 9 percent increase in traffic at its showroom and its upholstery subsidiaries, which moved into a new showroom near Hooker’s, had a 50 percent increase in attendance, Toms said.

“Inventories are lean for retailers,” he said. “They came to the market wanting to freshen their floors and inventories.”

New introductions by both companies were well-received, their executives said.

Spilman said that was the case with its Studio Dining casual dining line that is made at its plant in the Patriot Centre industrial park in Henry County.

Also, the company had a new showroom space on the first floor of the Inner Hall of the market building that was created to attract designers. “We got a lot of those folks up to the showroom” on the 12th floor, Spilman said, adding that company officials are debating whether they will do that again in the future.

Bassett Senior Vice President of Retail Jason Camp estimated during the market that 30 percent of the visitors to the new showroom “have gone upstairs to the (main) showroom.”

This was only the second market that opened on a Saturday, and Bassett’s showroom was “bustling” on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 18-20, Spilman said.

“That was fun,” he said, adding that he also was a little surprised. After tough conditions at the past two markets, this session’s increased attendance and positive reaction to new offerings “was gratifying.”

At Hooker, the new Sanctuary and Abbott Place lines also were well-received, Toms said.

The market “generally exceeded our expectations,” he added.

Glenn Prillaman, president of Stanley Furniture, said that company’s “traffic was good considering the fact that the overall traffic at the market was down just a bit from October a year ago. The demand for upper-end wood residential furniture remains weak, and you can tell that in talking to our retailers at market. The enthusiasm for our new introductions on the Stanley Furniture side of our business is tempered by the overall demand in the marketplace right now.”

Stanley recently announced that all its Young America line will be made in its domestic plants, and Prillaman said that was well-received by retailers.

“This doesn’t necessarily help employment in Henry County, though,” he added.

During the market Bill Frazier, Bassett Mirror vice president and national sales manager, said attendance was down 10-15 percent from last year. However, orders by Monday were up 14 percent, he added.

“All the dealers who are coming in here are pretty upbeat. Most have seen a small uptake in business in the past 90 days, like we have,” he said.

Frazier said Bassett-Mirror was “doing very well as far as order writing this market.

“We’ve seen some dealers we haven’t seen in a while. I think we’ll come out of this market in good shape,” he added.

Becky Koger, sales manager at Turning House furniture, said that company had a good reception to the 130 pieces it showed at the market.

“Our attendance was good and we had several dealers that want to put boutiques in their stores,” she said.

Candace Payne, president of Shenandoah Furniture, also said the market was good. All her company’s customer base was there and some potential new accounts stopped by the showroom as well, she said.

“In general, the mood was definitely a little more upbeat than the last market,” Payne said. “Nobody thinks it’s (the recession) over but everybody thought the mood of the consumer was a little more positive.”