Selection, not space, key to patio furniture display

Home Channel News, August 10, 1998 by R Michelle Breyer

Sales often dictate square footage, but customers want variety

NATIONAL REPORT -- HomeBase recently expanded the outdoor furniture sections within its 83 stores The robust economy, higher-quality products and a return to the outdoors all have sparked growth of this category, said Helena Bennet, seasonal buyer for the Irvine, Calif based retailer "There definitely has been growth m the outdoor furniture category," Bennet said

Sales increases were reported by home centers and hardware stores from sunny California to the East Coast Because of high consumer confidence, people are willing to spend more, say retailers

Manufacturers such as Bemis, Mallin, Metalcraft, Rubbermaid Jack Post and Casual Living have responded with a wider range of furniture in such materials as resin, wood, wrought iron, aluminum and steel While furniture of the past was limited to white and wood new sets are in colors ranging from cashmere to hunter green

"People are improving the look of their homes," said Ray Carungi, TruServ's merchandise manager for outdoor living "When they're buying now, they're not Just buying a table and chairs. They want a complete look It's no longer outdoor picnic, it's an outdoor living room"

Bigger is better, concurs Pat Nielsen, group product manager for the casual living group of Bemis Manufacturing of Sheboygan Falls, Wis. Last year, the outdoor furniture supplier debuted Grand Sequoia, a set of outdoor furniture with a matching recliner Traditional stack chairs sell for $9 99 to $19 99 each, but Grand Sequoia furniture starts at $2499, up to $4499

Dealers buying through Ace Hardware are also gravitating toward better, more upscale outdoor furniture products, said Bob Campo, the co-op's buyer. He added that selection is a key when independent dealers are competing with warehouse home centers in this category

The outdoor furniture segment can pose storage problems - not all stores have 5,000 square feet to dedicate to patio furniture (Ace's average hardware store is 8,000 square feet)

Even stores with little space need to keep furniture from hogging the selling floor For example, in its new store in Brea, Calif, HomeBase is placing some patio furniture on pallets that can be "staged," or rotated and changed during the selling season, according to Scott Richards, the company s senior vp-merchandising

Nielsen of Bemis said, "The challenge is finding a way to show the customer how a set can look like in their backyard without taking up a lot of square footage"

Photography can be used to show full sets, he said Instead of a stack of chairs, a good photo can show what six of those chairs would look like around a table, accessorized with a chaise lounge

Some manufacturers make displays that hold several tables and chairs, without the legs

This year, TruServ sent out over a million 48-page, full-color catalogs for distribution through its dealers' stores The catalog includes 350 patio furniture skus stocked in its distribution centers It also showed accessories, such as replacement cushions The catalog enables customers to customize sets, picking from a wider variety of finishes and fabrics than an individual store might be able to stock

"When someone wants to place a special order, they can get it by the following week," Carungi said "This allows a store of any size to be in the furniture business and offer Quite a few skus"

For many dealers, the strength of patio furniture sales in any given year often determines how much space they are willing to give the category on their sales floors

Emigh Ace Hardware, a 90year-old store in Sacramento, Calif, began to carry patio furniture two decades ago Over the years, as demand increased and the store's reputation grew, its outdoor living department took over the entire housewares section of the 25,000-square-foot store-roughly a third of its selling space during the spring and summer The store now displays as many as 30 sets on the floor with most of its pieces from such manufacturers as Bemis, Mallin and Metalcraft The store also displays several sets out front

Outdoor furniture has helped Emigh set itself apart from other hardware stores and home centers in the area

During the fall and winter, when more people are corning back inside, Emigh transforms its outdoor living section into a winter wonderland, complete with forests, trains, Yuletide displays and Christmas trees

Other dealers, like Ebels Ace Hardware in Chicago Heights, Ill, have converted an entire store to outdoor living - furniture and barbecues A second store, called Season's End, has a large seasonal department attached to a hardware store Like Emigh, Season's End also replaces the lawn furniture with Christmas trees in the fall

With space, comes the freedom to display large pieces of furniture, such as gliders and benches To keep things fresh, the stores regularly rearrange the floor

"It gives us a huge advantage," said Marcus Bernath, manager of Ebels' Season's End store "We're not limited by space The more you show, the more you sell"