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INDUSTRY UPDATES
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Star Futons Enters The 21st Century
Premiering at the Orlando Futon Expo in March, Star Futon introduced its latest and most innovative futon design yet, The Constellation. It is made of synthetic fibers which wrap a unique foam and a layer containing hundreds of small cells made of an advanced Gelastic polymer called Intelli-Gel™.
Anne Newmark, president of Star Futon stated, “Since we opened our doors for business, we’ve been experimenting with different combinations of materials and have been continually expanding our line. While we offer a wide range of futon mattresses to meet the needs of all of our futon mattress buyers, our expansion has been primarily focused on premium futons. We’ve developed several new styles made of innovative combinations of materials, but the comfort and uniqueness of our Constellation far surpasses anything I’ve ever come across. I’ve been told that it’s more comfortable than some high end conventional spring futon mattresses. It totally supports the spine and retains that support no matter what you do to it.”
“The reaction we’ve gotten to the Constellation, both at the Futon Expo and through orders following the show, confirm that people are looking for a much higher quality futon,” Newmark added.
Strata Furniture, Inc. Opens Doors in Orlando
After a successful show at the Futon Expo in Orlando, Pete Dodge and Brian Donohoo are producing a line of both domestic and imported futon furniture. The new, St. Paul based company is called Strata Furniture, Inc. Strata’s focus will be on both Mission and contemporary style furniture utilizing a patented front loading, wall-hugging mechanism owned by Dodge and the Donohoo family.
This quality mechanism will be offered together with innovative design and craftsmanship to make Strata’s products a good value in their price category.
The company’s signature product will be a futon version of the classic prairie settle with a finished back panel and back cap that connects to the two arm caps. This unique feature will be continued in other style futon frames in a “night and day bed” collection.
Bolger products are now ready for shipment and will include matching tables and lamps finished in their specially formulated, Mission Mahogany stain.
Foreign made products will include Strata’s Mission Rim collection featuring their interpretation of these handsome, turn of the century products. The other aspect of the foreign production will be the Colony Collection including a re-work of the original rose bed and an ultra retro design called the “Mickey Finn”. All of Strata’s products will display the original designs of Pete Dodge.
Quality of service will be on a par with quality of design and craftsmanship. All hardware will be sourced and packaged here in the United States, with replacement parts also being manufactured here.
This new product line promises to make available innovative and appealing products not generally in the futon industry.
Adonis Furniture Doubles Warehouse Space
Oakland, California — Adonis Furniture recently expanded its warehouse from 15,000 to 30,000 square feet. “Sales had been growing exponentially in the past year and we faced constant product shortages,” said David Lee, general manager of Adonis. “Our limited warehouse space restricted us from keeping adequate inventory levels. Having doubled the size of our warehouse, we will be in a better position to serve our existing customers while taking on new dealers and chains,” Lee said.
Adonis Furniture is an Oakland-based distributor of hardwood futon frames and platform beds.
Simmons Futons Goes Hi-Tech
In an effort to enhance the advertising of its dealers, Simmons Futons recently announced the immediate release of a CD-ROM with digital photos of its 2000 futon frame lineup, and cutaways of the company’s futon mattresses.
“This goes right to the heart of the number one issue our dealers are facing,” says Paul Sullivan, GM for United Sleep Products, the licensee for Simmons Futons. “They wanted a simple cost-effective way to provide artwork to their ad agencies and newspapers to help with their advertising campaigns.”
The CD’s high resolution photographs are ideal for advertising. Says Marcus Grimm, Marketing Director for United Sleep Products, “All of the files are TIFF files, so they can be opened with many conventional computer programs, but their predominant purpose is to be used for ad layouts.”
Despite the obvious investment on the part of Simmons, the futon CDs actually turned into a cost-saver for the company.
The CD project has been a real eye-opener for Simmons. “We are constantly looking for ways to provide our dealers with more quality for less money,” says Sullivan. “In this case, the CD was our first move into high-tech marketing, but it won’t be our last.”
Blue Magic Presents a New Line of Care Kits for Home Furnishings
Wood Care, Leather Care, Mattress Care and our latest addition:
the Futon Care Kit
Blue Magic, the industry leader in waterbed and furniture care products since 1969 introduced a new line of Tectron Care Kits at the Futon and Specialty Sleep Expo.
Tony Bova President and CEO stated that retailers and consumers alike would benefit from these exciting new Tectron products.
Retailers showed their enthusiasm for the program by awarding Blue Magic the Best Point of Purchase Display award at the Orlando Expo.
Consumers want to maintain their pride of ownership and protect their sizable home furnishing investments. In short they want their furniture to look good and last forever. “Our products will help them achieve their goal while eliminating the mass of confusion created by the seemingly endless supply of potentially harmful care products offered at the local grocery store,” Bova said.
Retailers expressed appreciation for the flexibility in packaging and display options while many larger customers asked if private label programs would be available.
Tony reminded everyone, “If you or your customer want it, my dedicated team and state-of-the-art facility in Stockton, CA are ready and waiting to make it, package it, supply it, and back it with customer service and support.”
FL
Education Continues
Service, R&D, & Sales Education Ensure Continued Success at August Lotz
It is not always easy to develop the upper-end of a product category. August Lotz, futon manufacturers of mid and upper priced solid wood futon frames and futon mattresses, knows that all too well. It is a multi-step formula and the product has to be right.
The process begins by polling futon retailers to find out what furniture styles are selling well and why. Then prototypes are built and reviewed by our engineering department to ensure the design is structurally sound and the style can be efficiently produced in our manufacturing setting. Changes are made and the process repeats itself until the R&D team is confident that the product is right to go to market. “Before we take our new products to the Expo or High Point, there is one more critical step,” says company president, Mark Schlichter. “We apply for patents. Most of our designs and construction technology are unique. Since we invest a lot of time and resources to develop these products, we want our store owners to benefit from it.” Lotz recently was successful in defending some of their patented designs. ”There is no sense in taking the time and spending the money to patent a product if you don’t plan to defend it. At Expo we saw some direct knock-offs. We took appropriate action and the futon manufacturer agreed not to produce them.”
After the product has been developed, the selling process begins. There are three steps: sell the buyer, sell the retail sales force, and sell the consumer. The response of the buyer is almost universal, “It’s truly a great product, but we have never sold these price points before.” Most concede that they would like to sell them. Then the presentation turns to showing them how to sell August Lotz products. In reality, the product sells itself.
Once the program is put in place, the focus shifts to the retail sales force. They will ultimately decide the fate of all vendors on the floor. The task of showing them the features and benefits of the product cannot be taken lightly. The “what’s in it for me” and “what’s in it for my customer” must be addressed. Lotz gives the salesperson a dependable, quality futon frame and futon mattress that will stay sold and not be the cause of problems in the future. Similarly, the customer gets beautiful, dependable furniture that will give them many years of trouble free enjoyment. Lotz has sales tools and point of purchase materials available to explain its products advantages and reinforce the consumer’s buying decision. “The process works,” claims Schlichter. “If we do our job and properly educate the retailer’s sales force, and they do their job in explaining the ‘August Lotz Story’ and demonstrating the products, there is a very high closing rate.” The fact that Lotz receives much repeat business is evidence of high customer satisfaction. |
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