Home office trend builds sales in RTA - ready-to-assemble furniture; includes related articles on rising costs and new show

Discount Store News, Jan 4, 1988 by Mary Ellen Kelly

Home Office Trend Builds Sales in RTA

Discount furniture buyers are ready to assemble at the housewares show, but unprepared to describe exactly what they hope to find.

Home office furniture offerings will probably get a second look during the National Housewares Manufacturers Association event because that subcategory has been singled out by buyers as one RTA area that continues to generate substantial sales growth. But beyond home office, chain merchandisers can only say they are looking for a new direction, a unique look that can revitalize RTA.

Research conducted for DSN by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates supports buyer views on the popularity of home office furniture. Over 40 percent of consumers surveyed mentioned home office items as furniture they might buy in the future; it was the No. 1 item mentioned among a list of types of RTA furniture.

At the show some RTA manufacturers will be hailing knotty pine as the wood tone that will inject excitement into homogeneous look-alike dark veneer assortments for 1988, but retailers said they need to test its performance, before committing to even a handful of pieces.

"Because there aren't any major hula hoops being introduced as far as I know, we'll probably go to the show looking strongly at the basics," said Rex Hitts, merchandise manager at The Andersons, the Ohio-based chain. "I hope I'm surprised and we see something new," he added.

Ed Saleeba, RTA buyer at Rose's, the 200-store discounter based in Henderson, N.C., said he is also not looking for a particular piece of furniture, but for new avenues for growth. "I go to the show with an open mind and see what types of trends are taking place. My main objective is to see what new areas are being explored," he said.

Jan Clausing, buyer for Clover, the Strawbridge & Clothier discount chain based in Philadelphia, is awaiting fourth quarter results from the RTA department before making any decisions on what he will be looking for at the NHMA show.

"Quite simply, I'm looking for something different that I think will sell. The results from Christmas will have quite a bearing on what I look for at the show," he said.

Phil Terry, buyer for Worthington, Ohio-based Gold Circle, explained that most of his actual buying is done at furniture factories before the NHMA show. But, he will try to discover a new line or item at the show.

"January is a very late date for me. We plan three to four months out. We're looking at the show as a time to see smaller resources and people we don't usually do business with," Terry said.

Manufacturer introductions of knotty pine have stimulated some interest. In fact some retailers, including Bradlees, Gold Circle and Harts, already have a couple knotty pine sku's in their furniture department. Rose's might be testing knotty pine furniture in three or four store locations during 1988 to "get a good reading," on its potential, Saleeba said.

Vouching for its sales potential, Terry said he will add to Gold Circle's knotty pine selection during 1988. "We've had knotty pine since last fall. So far we have two sku's, an entertainment center and a utility cart. We expect to be adding at least two more sku's of knotty pine in the spring," Terry said.

Columbus, Ohio-based Harts also offers a knotty pine entertainment center and utility cart in its mix, according to buyer Randy Tracey. "It's in our assortment and doing well for us." There are no immediate plans to add more knotty pine sku's, he said.

Regardless of whether knotty pine is currently in the stores or might be added, buyers agreed that the wood finish has potential only as a complement to other wood tones, and not as a finish that can dominate a total room decor.

"Right now we don't have any knotty pine, but I've read that it's the up-and-coming look," said buyer Richard Green at Abilene, Kan.-based ALCO. "Still, I don't think knotty pine will be as long lasting as the Copenhagen look. It is more an accent to a room treatment; pieces will sell rather than ensembles," he explained.

While Gold Circle's Terry said the chain will have at least four pieces of knotty pine by the spring, he also maintained that the look "won't have major emphasis," because, like most discounters, the chain's best moving wood tone continues to be oak.

Regardless of wood tone, home office furniture sales growth is strong and discounters are planning to merchandise the RTA area differently and in some cases add to selections to ride the crest of the sales wave.

"We will stay very aggressive during the first half of 1988 and will try to tie furniture in closely with the home office type environment," said Hitts of The Andersons. "We might not add sku's, but we will merchandise it differently on the floors and in the ads."

Rose's expects to add a third home office sku in May or June due to strong sales volume. "I think the computer age has helped promote the home office industry. People want to have the right furniture to go with their computers," Saleeba said.

Customers are usually willing to pay more to get the computer table or printer stand that is the right size, rather than take a lower priced model that is less appropriate for their computer hardware, Saleeba explained.