Cornering the wallpaper market; array of borders, accessory assortments make customers' 'planned purchases' easier - includes related article - Special Supplement: HomeMarket Trends

Discount Store News, April 5, 1993 by Michele C. Hollow

Discounters are finding that good things do come in small packages. Consumers are buying smaller ticket items like kitchen textiles, decorative pillow window toppers, chair pads, and bath accessories. The same holds true for wallpaper borders. They outsell sidewalks two-to-one.

"Most of the growth I've seen is in the accessory area," said a Hills buyer. "We have been very successful--especially with wallpaper borders."

Hills borders retail between $4.97 and $9.48 for a 15-ft. role. "We carry a very basic assortment," said the buyer. "We tried cross-merchandising the borders with bedding, but the patterns were too limiting for our customers. One problem is that when a new bedding ensemble is introduced with a coordinating wall border, often the old wall border is discontinued. So that means our stock is limited. We carry 90 skus in a 16-ft. display."

Caldor has been successful with its coordinated wallpaper borders partially because the number of skus are limited. Caldor caries three different patterns that coordinate to bedroom ensembles from Springs Industries.

"We developed with Springs a totally coordinated bedding program that runs the gamut of sheets, shams, comforters, fabric-by-the-yard and wallpaper borders," said James Alvord, operating vice president, divisional merchandise manager of domestics at Caldor.

"The majority of our bedding business is in accessories," said Alvord. "We have very good returns on wallpaper borders. For a relatively small sum of money this winds up being a three or four ticket purchase."

These 15-ft. borders retail for $9.99 and can be found on sale at 25% off.

The greater portion of Caldor's wallpaper business is in its hardware aisle, where borders are sold alongside sidewalls and paint. The borders in this department usually coordinate directly to the sidewalls resulting in double sales.

In the hardware department sidewall sales have been slow, but if James Fennema, operating vice president and divisional merchandise manager at Caldor, has his way, this will quickly change. Fennema would like to see this industry follow in the footsteps of alternative window treatments.

"We need to treat this segment of business in the same manner as made-to-measure window treatments," said Fennema. "Wallpaper is a planned purchase. Customers should be able to come in, browse through books, and order the amount of product they need. And within five days their order will be ready."

"We will have to utilize Quick Response [a computerized order system] for this to work," said Fennema. "This will also ensure that we have enough product for the consumer to buy."

Whether buying borders or sidewalls, customers usually purchase anywhere from three to 10 roles. Often consumers can't find matching patterns. It's common for most discounters to run short, which means the store will lose the sale.

"Most of our store displays for wallcoverings are between 24 ft. and 32 ft.," said Fennema. "We try to offer a wide selection, but we can offer a better one if we use a made-to-measure order system."

Dan Bonini, director of marketing at FSC Wallcoverings, agreed, "Special orders are virtually non-existent at mass merchants.

Borders sell well at the stores, but sidewalls sell much better out of special order books. This is a planned purchase. And because of the size of sidewalls, people are going to live with this for a long time. If they put up even one wall, it's unlikely that they will take it down right away."

Size is an important factor in this industry. Borders are more appealing because they are smaller--making them easier to apply. Consumers are more likely to change borders before they change sidewalls.

Today application of both sidewalls and borders are easier than a few years ago. Customers don't have to deal with paste thanks to the hang-and-peel and prepasted varieties. For prepasted, the customer only needs to wet the back of the sheet and hang. "This makes it so much easier for first time installers," said Robin Kelly, director of marketing at Imperial Wallcoverings.

The easier application and sophisticated designs make wallpaper more attractive. "Mass merchants have an enormous selection of patterns to choose from," said Lori Davis, marketing manager at Borden.

Borden manufactures the Martha Stewart line that coordinates to bedding from J.P. Stevens and is sold at Kmart. "We also have licenses with Wamsutta, WestPoint Pepperell and Springs," said Davis. One of its most popular licenses is Disney which coordinates with Wamsutta bedroom ensembles.

The patterns have moved upscale--especially in the border category.

Borden, FSC, and Imperial all offer a wide assortment of contemporary, country, novelty, traditional, and juvenile styles.

Packaging is also going through changes. "We sell our borders in flat packages so the customer can see the repeat of the design," said Davis. "It is the way of the future for borders because it is more attractive than the spools."

Wallpaper Sales Cover Many Departments

Wallpaper is not just part of the hard lines department anymore. Walk into any major discounter and wallpaper can be found in domestics next to bedroom ensembles, the bath shop and juvenile bedding. It is even displayed alongside dinnerware at Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target.