Futon Showroom 2001 A Floor Space Odessy

We got some very interesting answers to the question of the futon industry's future. Almost all the responses were positive, which caused us to conclude that when you give people an opportunity to complain they do, but when you ask them what they really think they eagerly reveal the secret of their success.

The most prophetic answer came from Carlo Merli of Futonia in New Orleans, LA. "Unfortunately my name is Merli, not Merlin, still I foresee continuous growth, maybe to the point that all futon mattresses will be called "futon" i.e. waterfutons, springfutons or foamfutons."

We aren't sure about the later part of Carlo's prediction but the front end is our most universal consensus. "Specialty futon stores will dominate," said Karen Blank of Heartwood in Cambridge, MA. "We're convinced that futon business will drop off for the mass merchants and people will come back to specialty futon stores that have trained sales people who know what the advantages of these products are," she said. "Hopefully the futon industry will be more publicized; more people need to know about the great products we sell," said Ray Manasco. "When people go out to buy a sofa-bed they need to know about this futon alternative," he said. "Specialty stores will be back in force," says Dave Buechner of The Home Store in Atlanta, GA. "Those who survive will do well. Futon price points will rise from today's average of $299 to $399, to $599 to $699. Right about where the rest of the furniture industry is with a mid-priced sofa."

Buechner also shared his thoughts very eloquently on the current state of the futon industry.

"This industry has lost its direction. We started out as a product category which was part of the back-to-basics, "natural alternative" theme of the late seventies and early eighties. Lately, as the futon industry has moved towards a wider acceptance, there has been a degeneration in pricing and quality. We have lost our theme." Buechner stated the challenge before us now is to chart a new direction as futon industry: manufacturers and retailers alike working towards a common goal of growth within the context of a style. "The futon industry needs to explore the demographic and psychographic profile of the people who are buying this product now. If we can create a sense of environment on the retail floor that appeals to this group they will be better able to envision these products in their home. The clues for this "style" must come from the futon industry. We need to have a message that goes beyond price only. People don't buy price they buy value," he said. "If futon industry works together to improve the quality at all price points and everyone works hard to develop the concept of "good value" then we will all make out in the long run," says Art Diamond of The Futon Shop in San Francisco. Diamond believes price points will go up too. "Raw materials will go up with availability and inflation, and prices will also rise because of quality improvements. All of this will cause retail price points to rise as well," he said.

Dave Garretson adds, "Futons are here to stay, but all of us are not. The futon business will be done by far fewer manufacturers and retailers. Most of the volume will be done by larger chains, with one or two specialty futon stores per market handling the better stuff," he said. The future is always difficult to predict, but we believe Garretson and other smaller specialty futon stores may be pleasantly surprised to see the chains and mass merchants getting out of futons. We were not able to speak directly with any super-large mass merchants, but their typical behavior is to jump in when a trend is in the commodity stage and get out or at least back off when the market flattens out.

Matt Kallman of Futon Furnishings of Portland, ME and West Hartford, CT had a more sobering view of the future. "We've been in futon business for almost eight years and only a handful of resources have been available to us. It just seems foolish for poor relations to exist between the vender and the store," he said. Matt also raised the issue of moving the Futon Expo to an earlier date and having it in one, centrally located city such as St. Louis every year. This would allow East and West Coast futon shops to travel equal distances to see the industry's offerings.

"Forget the parties and judging of booths and just do business," Kallman said. We aren't sure everyone would agree with Kallman concerning the show, in fact, we here at Futon Life have always been in favor of a moving "futon show", at least for the next few years. This will allow more and more retailers to see the futon category by driving to the show as opposed to flying in and incurring the expense of air fare, hotels etc..

Nancy Taylor's response was short and to the point. "Futons will become a household word." We agree and are all working hard to make that happen.