Furniture Firms bank on New Alliances to Spark Sales

Bobbin, Sept, 2000 by Kathleen DesMarteau

From veteran names such as Bob Timberlake to newcomers the likes of August Post, furniture manufacturers are aligning themselves with apparel designers and brand names that will help them catch the consumer's attention.

The furniture industry has become increasingly focused on designer alliances and brand name licensing agreements as it strives to identify new ways of exciting consumers. In some cases, these deals are bringing the worlds of fashion and furniture together as strange bedfellows, as furniture firms tap apparel designers to develop exclusive licensed home collections.

There is significant unfamiliar ground that players from both the fashion and furniture industries must cross in order to make such partnerships work. For one thing, garment designers and marketers must adjust to the slower product development cycle of the furniture industry, in which firms generally premiere new lines twice annually versus six to eight times per year in apparel.

Yet there also are many synergies between the two industries, such as the development of coordinated groupings, the use of fabrics and trims in the creative process and the deployment of lifestyle-oriented marketing strategies. As Alexander Julian, one of the pioneering fashion designers to enter the furniture realm, jokingly told a gathering at this past spring's High Point, NC, furniture market: "The only difference between the fashion world and the furniture world is fewer sizes."

But there are many other differences between the two industries -- from the retail environment to the materials and labor needed to put the products together. As with any type of partnership, compromise and communication are proving to be a common denominator in the most successful fashion-furniture alliances, and in designer licensing deals in general.

Lexington: Managing a Stable of Brand Names

Leading the way in the area of designer and brand name furniture alliances is Lexington Home Brands (formerly Lexington Furniture Industries). One of the largest players in the furniture marketplace, Lexington is a division of the massive LifeStyle Furnishings International furniture conglomerate. Lexington alone employs 5,000, and operates 14 manufacturing plants in central and western North Carolina and South Carolina.

Speaking with Bobbin at the firm's High Point showplace, a white mansion surrounded by manicured grounds just outside of the city, Jan Hersey, communications coordinator, discussed Lexington's emphasis on branded collections. "The consumer needs a way to relate to furniture," she emphasized. "Consumers want relationships, not transactions."

Lexington's stable of nine branded product collections includes names such as Bob Timberlake[R], Palmer Home Collection[TM], Tommy Bahama[R], Southern Living[TM] and Nautica Home, to list just a few. Lexington's design teams create a very different look and persona for each collection, working in conjunction with each brand's own design team. In marketing the lines to furniture dealers, Lexington often will showcase its furniture along with bedding, apparel and other licensed goods produced under the brand name to "show that there is a power in pulling it all together," Hersey said.

Compromise can be needed to bring fashion and furniture interests onto the same page, she noted, describing how Nautica initially envisioned a very stark approach in its furniture collection, with only a few pieces displayed at retail. Lexington worked with the apparel firm to find a happy medium -- a pared-down look, but with all of the pieces needed to make the line viable in the furniture retail environment.

As Hersey explained, Lexington and Nautica have come to respect each other's areas of expertise. When it comes to furniture merchandising, she said, "We know what sells, what configurations work." However, Lexington also has studied Nautica's approach to apparel merchandising in order to achieve consistency in the way the firm's garments and furniture are displayed and marketed.

Strategic Design Alliances: Finding the Perfect Fit

Lexington Home Brands is not alone in the pursuit of partnerships with designers and brand names associated with diverse lifestyle images. Many other furniture firms, both large players and smaller ones, are embarking on similar strategies that they hope will infuse consumers with an interest in buying furniture. Here is a quick look at just a few of these alliances, and what makes them work.

Norwalk's Newest Talent. Norwalk Furniture Corp., a 98-year-old furniture manufacturer and retailer, has entered into a partnership with Home and Garden Television (HGTV) design trend expert Joe Ruggiero. As a result, the firm has premiered The Joe Ruggiero Collection of furniture, fabrics and decorative accessories. Beth Ruggiero, daughter of Joe Ruggiero and his business partner, explained to Bobbin that her father has had the idea to launch a home collection, complete with a multimedia marketing campaign, for a long time. "We felt it was a great fit [with Norwalk]," she said. "They really understood the concept."