On the patio: new styles, colors in wrought iron and resin - outdoor furniture - Hardware Show

Discount Store News, August 5, 1996 by Richard Halverson

DSN NATIONWIDE REPORT -- Coming off two years of essentially flat sales, the outdoor furniture category is counting on a variety of new styles and colors to jump-start the industry for 1997.

For the second year in a row, wet, cold spring weather dampened 1996 sales, and sales gains next year depend on the vagaries of the weather as much as on new fashion colors, textures and prints.

Within the overall category, wrought iron was the standout, while resin also increased, both at the expense of styled furniture made with either aluminum or steel.

Wood continued to slip and now accounts for only 2% to 3% of the market, said John Oppenheimer, vp and managing director for casual furniture, Sunbeam Outdoor Products. Styled furniture accounts for about 30% to 32% of the market; resin, 28%; wrought iron, at least 12%; folding furniture such as aluminum and steel beach and lawn chairs, 17%; and replacement cushions and webs, the balance of about 8%, Oppenheimer said.

Sunbeam makes both aluminum and resin. Manufacturers of just resin place the resin share at anywhere from 30% to 37%, or at least $350 million at retail.

Precise industry figures are lacking, since no one tracks the sales of imports, a major factor in resin, rattan and wicker.

For U.S. manufacturers, sales rose in 1996 to about $1 billion, at manufacturers cost, from $940 million in 1995, said Joe Ziolkowski, executive director of the Summer Casual Furniture Manufacturers Association, High Point, N.C. At retail, sales were about $2 billion, he said.

Of the total wholesale value, discounters accounted for $306.4 million of manufacturers' shipments, Ziolkowski said, while the share for traditional furniture stores was $197.3 million. Department stores took $78.1 million worth, and patio, hardware stores and home centers accounted for $423.5 million.

Oppenheimer pegs total retail sales at about $1.7 billion, with mass merchants taking roughly a 60% share of sales and specialty stores 40%.

In an unexpected development, new industry standards for monobloc chairs that the American Society for Testing Materials developed have hampered sales. Because chairs are being made stronger, they break less frequently.

Consequently, sales of replacement chairs have declined, and consumers need a style reason to buy replacements.

Lawnware, Schaumburg, Ill., provided one such reason for a Northeastern discounter that asked to remain nameless. The chain sold 16,000 of the Lawnware Sunrose design chair at $16.99, compared to normal sales of 8,000, its lawn & garden buyer said. The Sunrose design features a rose floral detail across the top of the chair and open lattice work below on the back. The Sunrose chairs "made a resin" set that sold well with a 43-in. table, he said.

Otherwise, though, "stack chairs were a disappointment," the buyer said, because consumers aren't buying replacements for chairs that don't break as often.

The chain couldn't get enough of Sunbeam's Hickory Forge wrought iron table set, the buyer said, and couldn't keep it on the floor. The set consists of a 48-in. table with mesh top and four chairs and sold through at $249.

Next year, the chain plans to expand wrought iron and will also consider furniture from Plantation Patterns, Birmingham, Ala., and Compex, a wrought iron import from China that Caldor, BJ's Wholesale Club and Kmart are carrying, the buyer said.

On the other hand, the chain bought too much aluminum and took huge hits on one Sunbeam set and another from Asia. But higher-end sets in aluminum did well, including the Shainco set from China; four high-back cushioned chairs and 40-in. by 66-in. glass top table that sold well at $399.

A lower-end set from Sunbeam, the Saybrook, didn't perform as expected at $249, and the chain cut the price to $189, the buyer said.

Out of 12 sets carried, one was wood: a set from American Wood consisting of a 61-in. rectangular table, with chairs and two benches, selling for $299.

Once the chain's No. 1 seller, the American Wood set did "pretty well" this season, and the chain will buy it again in 1997.

For trends next year, the buyer said he is seeing a push for seven-piece sets with six chairs. Also coming for 1997, he predicts: 9-ft. market umbrellas in aluminum that will retail for $89, compared to 8 1/2-ft. round umbrellas at $70.

His chain merchandises patio sets in three bulk formats of 10-ft. by 27-ft., with pass-through aisles to the rear of the store.

Bradlees, in its approach to patio merchandising, is attempting to separate itself from the competition by cross-merchandising garden accessories, such as citronella candles, certain types of planters, wind chimes and bakers racks with basic sets, said Dennis Oberholzer, dmm, leisure products. That will give the department of about 1,200 sq. ft. its own distinctive look to draw consumers into the area, Oberholzer said.

At the Hardware Show, Oberholzer said he expects to see more ornate styling and value add-ons rather than new products. The garden influence will be more prominent, he said, through floral and ivy treatments for decorative, rather than functional, design.