Exclusive futon product issues
Another topic that concerned many of our futon stores was the "exclusives" issue. Obviously this topic could fall into the category of manufacturer-retailer relations, but some futon retailers addressed it as a problem for the whole industry. Some claimed that competing retailers were having their own suppliers recreate a futon frame they saw in the other person's store, while others claimed that they were simply being lied to by their suppliers who were merely changing their company name on the box and supplying a local futon competitor with their exclusive. Others applauded their suppliers who, in some cases, went as far as creating different futon arm styles for different retailers in a given city. This allowed the retailer to offer their customer a unique product and differentiate themselves from their competitor with something other than price only.
John Buster, who owns several futon stores in the Boston area, detailed his concerns about domestically produced products. "We really have lack of sharp domestic choices. Some of the futon manufacturers are doing a great job but we see quality wax and wane depending on the season," he said. Overall, though, Buster is happy with the progress the futon industry has made in the past four years. "We are still seeing our business grow because this product is basically sound. Think about what we are selling: substantial comfort in a dual purpose sofa-bed at a price that offers real value," he said.
Buster related a story about taking two futon furniture sets to his lake-island getaway, by canoe. "What other piece of furniture can be shipped by canoe? We took these futon frames out to the island, set them up, and with the flick of the wrist converted them from sofa to bed and back. What you have here is the ability to go from home office to bedroom and back again. Throw in the futon covers and we've created a new architecture."
"So many people in futon business are jumping in with absolutely no idea of what they are doing," said Bill Mennitti of Futon Factory Outlet in Phoenix. "These guys are selling a metal futon frame with metal slats and a four inch futon pad. Hey, there's no way the consumer is going to be happy with that six months down the road. We need to get the word out about this before we shoot ourselves in the foot," he said.
Other retailers, like Sandra Cadotte of Dragon's Lair Futons in Ann Arbor, MI raised the issue of qualified representation and sales training coming from futon manufacturers. This need has been addressed by many manufacturers and suppliers and they obviously have hit this nail on the head. These retailers hope that other quality futon frame and futon mattress makers will get on board with better sales tools and a live human being in their stores to answer questions and help them deal with day to day issues.
Gerald King of Environs in Richmond, VA said getting futon parts was a problem. This problem could be solved if his suppliers' rep came to the store for a regular visit.
Much of this criticism stems from the very nature of current state-of-the-industry. Futon manufacturers need deep pockets and perfect projections to be able to deliver products on time. A great majority of the traditional sofa business revolves around the retailer carrying a floor model and fabric swatches. The customer comes in, orders a sofa, and waits six weeks for delivery. With futons the retailer needs inventory to sell. Projectile growth plus hundreds of new futon retailers plus "I need it now " can make for some difficult business decisions. Don Thompson of America The Beautiful Dreamer a futon store, in the northwest corner of the country, cites poor coordination all along the supply line as the key problem to solve.
Small to medium size futon retailers may have to explore bank financing or other creative ways to help finance an earlier than usual inventory purchase. Planning ahead and developing a carefully thought out relationship with a reputable futon manufacturer is the key to this ongoing supply line dilemma.
Other problem issues raised by our sample of futon retailers were: false information used in advertising (mostly about cotton futons); lack of any quality standards; incomplete and delayed shipments; no definitive futon chair size standards; and an overall inexperience in product distribution.