Frames capture high-ticket, value image - picture frames

Discount Store News, March 7, 1994

The frame industry's ability to create products that duplicate high-ticket fashion with value pricing is taking the category to new heights at full-line discounters, crafts speciality chains and numerous other mass market outlets.

Home decorating facelifts, gift-giving, craft applications, and the framing of everything from awards and diplomas to inspirational verse are just a few of the applications enabling this category to occupy a profitable niche not only at full-line discounters and home decor stores such as Lechter's, Bombay, Waccamaw and Pier 1, but at other specialty outlets as diverse as Home Depot, Ben Franklin, Marhsalls, Toys "R" Us and Staples. And the list is growing.

What has been the key to the category's profitable growth despite its availability at so many retail channels is the vendor's ability to offer such a wide range of assortments that no two retailers in a given market are forced to enter a price war. Even at lower price points, the innumerable variables in frame styling, construction, dimension and merchandising enable retailers to make their own unique statements in the frame category.

Suppliers Like Newell's Intercraft division in Taylor, Texas,; Cleveland-based American Greetings Vo.'s Acme Frame Products; M.W. Carr, Somerville, Mass., with its Greentree, Carr and Portfolio brands; National Picture and Frame, Greenwood, Miss.; and Uniek Inc. based in Waunakee, Wis., all forecasted a robust 1994 sales year. This projections are due, in large part, to their ability to offer diverse products at different price points to a growing pool of retail outlets.

As Bill Wenkman, vice president, sales & Marketing at Uniek, summed it up, sales in 1994 for his company should be up over 40% over last year, due to the company's "full-service line ranging from inexpensive plastic to wood. We sell to all markets."

The pie is getting bigger, vendors said, and the consumer's appetite will continue to grow as long as the ever-important price and product combination continue to add up to value.

"The economy is definitely moving in the right direction. Home starts are up as are remodelings. Both are situations where home decorating accessories purchases are being made," noted Nick Lazaris, president of M.W. Carr. He forecasts that sales of the company's year-old Greentree division geared toward the mass market will triple this year after a year of solid growth at full-line discounters. This year marks the parent company's 125th anniversary, a history which is already benefiting the upstart Greentree line.

Lazaris has found that mass market tastes are moving in tandem with upscale offerings from the company's Portfolio line. The primary difference is the materials from which the products are made. "Wide moldings and products with interesting testures and colorations will sell well this year. Frames with a rich look, moldings more than metals."

Consumer research undertaken by Acme Frame found that the No. 1 preferred frames among all of its fashion offerings were ornate, embossed gold-tone styles. "Consumers like to be able to change the look of their home through relatively inexpensive accessory items like frames," said Kim Kiner, director of marketing and product development at Acme. The vendor recently expanded its previously low-ticket product offerings to include moderate and higher price point levels.

"We anticipate a lot of growth opportunities at stores like Toys "R" Us with our whwle new juvenile line. In addition, we're developing a new line geared to the crafts chains," said Kiner.

Craft chains are also among the target growth areas for Intercraft, which attended its first Hobby Industry Association trade show in January. Intercraft could leap-frog ahead of the competition in terms of brand awareness due to its recently finalized licensing agreement with Kodak. The new line not only will have the advantage of Kodak brand recognition in a directly related product category, but will also offer features that address photo preservation.

"We've been perceived as a mid-priced supplier, but we offer higher-end products such as solid wood. We wun the full gamut, up to $30 retails. We are truly a one-stop shop," explained Vince Pasquale, president of Intercraft.

Enhancing the entire appearance of Intercraft displays wiLl be its new gravity-fed peg merchandiser, officially debuted at the Housewares Show in January, which provides, Pasquale noted, "a continually in-stock, crisp look."