Thanks For The Memories or What? Me Worry?

The next three years will be critical for several reasons. First a little background. Some companies, even some of my advertisers, are moving away from the use of the word "futon" in their advertising and promotional materials. In and of itself this is not a big deal. But it does illustrate the fact that these companies have decided to distance themselves from what the home furnishings "trade" sees as cheap, promotional only, and peripheral to what is good and solid. (Of course their idea of good and solid may be RTA furniture which is basically wood chips glued together and covered with paper.)

Why do we stand by and take this abuse? Most futon frames are made of "solid wood." We have the resources to change these perceptions but only leadership can make it happen. That’s a fact of life.

Another fact of life is our maturity as a product category. More background. Futon furniture has basically replaced the daybed. Okay, there are still a few daybeds around, but even the town fool can see that futon furniture is a better value for the dollar. In fact with the kind of numbers I think we could produce regarding profit margins and dollars per square foot (a $333.76 PSF average in our last survey) we might even be able to convince the most hardened critic that futon furniture deserves another look.

Other aspects of a maturing market include the distillation of many suppliers to just a few. This has happened to our category over the past few years. The unique thing about our little niche though is that the base product, the mattress, is still made in large part by companies founded over 100 years ago. You just don’t get any more stable than that. We are a very different animal than anything that has come before. We are true comfort in a value based package manufactured by 100 year old companies.

It’s not about where or when the next Futon Expo will be or whether or not we team up with another association. It’s about taking stock of what we have and who we are and exploiting the basic value propositions and unique selling benefits this product affords.

Some have been forced or fooled into believing that the furniture we make can only cost $300 at retail or it won’t sell. Yet many specialty dealers sell $1,200.00 futon sofa beds all day long. Unbelief is the result of a lack of knowledge, not a sound analysis of the facts.

The Honda Accord is a huge success not because it costs the least but because it is a great value for the money. We need to treat our industry like Honda treats the Accord. Give the consumer a great value and they won’t care as much about the price, as long as you stay competitive in the category, and we do.

Thanks!

I do want to sincerely thank all the fine members of the Futon Association International who took the time to vote for me in this most recent election. In fact a recent postcard from FAI said it was the largest voting turnout in Association history. I hope I will be an effective leader.

In the printed version of this publication, which was published prior to a recent meeting of the FAI Board in Orlando, I stated some concerns I had about changes previously adopted that disallowed my voting at the meeting.

All present at the meeting took my appeal to follow the by-laws very seriously and we all moved forward in total agreement, following the official by-laws protocol, and got the work done that we all came to do.

I also extend my apologies to anyone I personally offended during this passionate debate.

FL