Top-of-bed is top of mind; toned down colors take center stage as consumers look toward better design and values - home furnishings - Special Supplement: HomeMarket Trends

Discount Store News, April 5, 1993 by Pete Hisey

Buyers will see a more muted display at Market Week this year, as manufacturers tone down their colors. "I wouldn't say the colors for this market are drab." said Dundee vp David Taylor, "but they are certainly more restrained." Colors this year will reflect a thriftier, less sensation-oriented consumer, a trend that has been on the rise since the end of the go-go- '80s, but which has become more pronounced in the wake of the 1992 presidential election. Consumers, Taylor said, are much more concerned with a casual, yet timeless, look that they won't tire of as quickly as they did of, say, neons.

At the same time, there is a growing trend toward better construction and more value for the money. Dundee is introducing or expanding its lines of prints, jacquards and embellished towels to appeal to a customer looking for something in addition to solid colors. "We've managed to hit the price points we think the consumer wants," Taylor said. "We have great prints in the Dependability and Durability lines which will sell out in the $5.99 range, less on promotion."

Thomaston Mills' John Pope concurred. "Well, it's yes and no," he said. "In the higher fashion area, I think we'll see more muted colors, and many of our patterns for this market are a bit more subdued. We even have an African look that's done in dusty colors. But we have ethnic patterns that are really bright, and a new pattern called Cotillion that uses a strong red balanced with hunter green. And it doesn't look anything like a Christmas pattern."

There may also be a reduction in the number of bedding coordinates as well. "What's really driving the market is top-of-bed," said Aberdeen's Steve Cohen. "There's a market for a fully coordinated look, but in the mass market, I think the real demand is for a great look on the top of the bed, and sheets are secondary." And that view seems to have been adapted by some retailers. Venture has a private label coordinated program, but expends far more of its resources on a dynamic solid sheet program coupled with complementary, but not coordinating, standalone comforters.

Beacon Manufacturing is betting that top-of-bed is going to drive sales, as it introduces its most aggressive line ever. Among the new products are a whole line of woven cottons and printed cottons, as well as an Heirloom Jacquard program of full-size (not throw) blankets. The eight patterns of the latter are faithful reproductions of classic Beacon patterns from the 1930s in 100% cotton, and, at $125 or so far a queen, are aimed directly at the top-of-bed market. "We've taken a good-better-best strategy, with prices ranging from $20 to $150, and to sell the upper tier, we had to have strong patterns that would appeal to the top-of-bed market," blanket product manager John Ginn said. "At that price point, the blanket has to stand alone as a fashion statement; who's going to pay $100 for something they're just going to cover up with a comforter?" Beacon will also debut its full Disney program at this market, as the agreement was finalized late last year.

Cannon design director Ruth Fox, on the other, noted that concentrating on top-of-bed is "dangerous. Top-of-bed may drive sales, and it is definitely important, but the consumer wants print patterns on her sheets, she wants the fabric yardage, and she likes the coordinated look." And retailers are looking for more and more coordination, but at mass market prices. Cannon has responded with a new line called the Landmark Collection, at a price point slightly above its popular Living Legacy product line. "This [price point] allows us to add in a few more of the bells and whistles people want, like paneled pillowcases, attached lace and so on," Fox said. In Living Legacy, a new pattern, Safari, will take its cue from traditional African themes, and will feature a leopard patch-work work.

If coordination is dipping slightly in the bedroom, in other parts of the home it seems to be on the rise. "That makes sense," Aberdeen's Cohen noted. "In the kitchen or bath, everything is on view. How many times do you see the unmade bed look outside of a catalog? People don't care what their sheets look like; they care about what's visible: top-of-bed, windows, and perhaps the bedroom table."

In the kitchen, Home Innovations has introduced a fully coordinated program called Home Boutique, which ties together tabletop, kitchen textiles and kitchen curtains. Products range from chair pads and potholders to vinyl tablecloths, napkins, and top treatments. All products, apart from tablecloths and decorative wall borders (from Borden) are made by Home Innovations in its U.S. plants, according to senior vp Wendy Keryk, and there are 12 patterns in all. "We took great pains to make sure that the patterns were appropriate for all products," she said. "This is not coordination for coordination's sake." Patterns range from soft contemporary florals to the core of the kitchen market, novelty patterns like "Moo" which features cows in chicken suits. "But even with the novelties, we've tried to keep it sophisticated." Coordinating top treatments, for instance, come in an array of configurations, with embellishments, tiebacks, and ruffles, not just a standard pouf. Phase two in Home Boutique, Keryk said, will be a full coordination with Home Curtain's tier curtain line, which one retailer will introduce this year.