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Bobbin, July, 1999 by Kathleen DesMarteau

Perhaps Hammary Furniture Co.'s John Labarowski, senior vice president of sales and marketing, best summed up the delivery challenge with: "One of the black eyes of the industry has always been that it can take you [the consumer] up to 16 weeks to get a sofa, and you can buy a BMW, in any color you choose, and have it within a week."

As with the apparel industry, the furniture industry also is faced with the fact that the Internet is setting consumers' standards for quick, if not instant, gratification higher and higher. While furniture firms are hesitant to sell their goods on-line for fear of alienating their valued dealer customers, they increasingly are using the Internet to market their goods. They also are beginning to test the waters with new on-line furniture dealers, or showrooms, such as FurnitureFind.com, which is receiving hundreds of thousands of visitors each month, according to its president Stephen Antisdel, who also heads Bookout Furniture, a full-line furniture and appliance retail store.

Tony Albanese, commercial content representative for Neocom Microspecialists Inc., sees a tremendous future for furniture firms in the on-line arena. "Two markets ago, I would have said people aren't ready to buy furniture on-line," he observed. "Now, it's a different story."

In addition to sales force automation and off-the-shelf software offerings, Neocom specializes in rolling out Web development projects, and has helped such major furniture makers as Lexington Furniture Industries build the technical infrastructures behind their e-commerce strategies. Albanese estimated that there are approximately 3,100 furniture manufacturers on-line today, 10 times the number on the Web a year ago.

Moreover, he reported that one furniture maker, which Neocom helped to establish a Web site, is receiving 500,000 bits per month, while another furniture client is logging hundreds of hits per day, immediately after its site went up. "Consumers are making buying decisions on the Internet," he concluded. "You can't ignore that."

The concept of furniture manufacturers going direct to the consumer with their goods relates to a bigger picture of forward integration in the furniture industry, namely the movement of major manufacturers such as Bassett Furniture Industries and Rowe Furniture toward opening their own retail galleries and outlets. These stores often have an emphasis on home decorating guidance, much like the services offered by interior design firms, and derived from the model that is one of Ethan Allen's claims to fame.

Jack Glabman, chairman and CEO of upholstery producer Glabman-Himes Inc., also offered Bobbin some comments on the concept of backward and forward integration as it relates to the furniture industry. His firm's offices are located high atop the IHFC, just down the hall from Milliken & Co. and Guilford Mills, where the atmosphere is quiet, even as these behind-the-scenes giants adeptly measure the pulse of the market, dispersing scouts to gauge forthcoming demand for their weaves, velvets, chenilles and other materials.