It's official: mass stakes claim in RTA - ready to assemble - home goods & housewares - Industry Overview

DSN Retailing Today, Sept 22, 2003

Their lifestyle orientation has helped non-traditional furniture retailers make gains. While traditional furniture sellers take more of a one-size-fits-all approach, those retailers who started out by nibbling the edges of the business approached consumers who were badly served by the traditionalists. That's one reason they scaled down their offerings and developed a more modular approach to assortment. Today, Ikea presents its product lines in terms of solutions to various spacial challenges. BoConcept designs all its pieces with that in mind. Sofa, entertainment pieces, just about anything it makes can be found in a basic and expanded form and that expansion can be, well, expansive. By combining shelf and tower units, entertainment centers can range from something akin to a TV cart to a full-scale wall unit.

"In our design process, that is the way we think at Club8 and BoConcept," Most said. "The whole idea behind it is personalization. Let the consumers personalize for their own needs. We sell in 89 countries. We have to be flexible."

From the vendor perspective, some of the changes come with just a hint of irony. Susan Dountas, vp of merchandising of Sauder Woodworking, said the business in computer desks has become less married to computer sales.

"Certainly during back-to-school, we have three-piece desk sets that have good sell-throughs, but entertainment has driven a lot of business this year," she said.

While computers aren't driving computer desk sales, televisions are helping to drive entertainment unit sales. "It's not just the mega TVs, but also the 16/9 ratios, the configuration of even 32-inch screens that has changed things," she said, "and plasma, if you want to go up [in price]."

Closet and garage systems also have been good going into back-to-school and generally, Dountas said, another indication that consumers are rethinking how they can use space most efficiently.

Vendors continue to develop more fashionable products with a wider range of material, including solid wood and metal, while keeping price points sharp. In that way, they can build on gains they've made in moving consumers from traditional to RTA products. Those driving forces impact Sauder, Dountas said, but they also impel Costco, which produces folding chairs and tables.

"We've worked toward putting a lot more style into our folding tables and chairs," said Joy Broadhurst, Costco's vp of sales. "But price is still the No. 1 issue. You can't do without the style, fashion and better goods, but I think the consumer has tended toward better value for the price."