Industry Updates: 2
Futon Association Documercial in final phase of production
The Futon Association International will be releasing its first ever television based PR program later this summer. The half hour documercial, produced by TVA Productions based in Studio City, CA, will feature footage of the latest products available from Association member manufacturers and futon retailers nationwide.
The theme of the half hour “Business World News” program will focus on the benefits of flexible futon sofa sleepers, and how well they fit into today’s homes and lifestyles. The program talks to the features and benefits of futon furniture including comfort, value, and style and other key messages like versatility, dual purpose functionality, and the universal fashion appeal of this product’s easy change futon covers.
The “report” takes advantage of footage from the recent Futon & Specialty Sleep EXPO in Philadelphia, and features interviews with Bob Naboicheck, Shari Hammer, Tony Wolf, John Christiansen, Brian Donohoo, John Widley, Mary Lou Rath, Rachel Taylor, Association President Pattie MacMillen and others. The program then travels on to a futon store where the product’s three component parts are detailed and previewed for what each brings to the mix. All along the way viewers are reminded about the comfort and value of today’s futon furniture.
The video will be part of TVA’s Media Blitz!® Package that includes a TV, print, and radio campaign that will generate an estimated 43 million gross viewer impressions. The program will also be featured for one month as part of the in-flight program of a major airline to be determined.
Gold Bond Futon Sales Training Program Emphasizes Comfort to Retailers Here, Abroad
Gold Bond’s Retail Sales Training Program is now newly refined to teach retail sales personnel the proven, established and successful methods in selling new lifestyle futon furniture.
One statistic remains constant: comfort closes sales. A 2004 industry survey confirms it: comfort and support rate 9.2 in importance on a 10 point scale with consumers shopping for sofa sleepers. Gold Bond’s futon sales training program was first initiated by President Bob Naboicheck to emphasize comfort and other consumer-oriented needs. The training program has grown into an essential component of the Gold Bond retail program.
Gold Bond’s training seminars are provided by Gold Bond Representatives Stuart Glasser, Ed Pyne, Alan Marshall, Jonathan Mink, Ken Durand, Marvin Yeshiva, John Worley, Dave Bartlett, Bob Weinberg, David Dubosar, Tim O’Flaherty and Bruce Gelbard and Vice President of Sales and Marketing Andy Freedman.
The commitment to Gold Bond futon retailers keeps sales personnel continually on the road. Bob Naboicheck also provides sales training. He has been traveling most weekends this year-- in the past four months he’s seen customers in 30 states and four countries.
The program educates futon retailers about new products and new ways to offer “unbelievable comfort, and why premium futon mattresses provide such tremendous value” and key step-by-step selling processes. With due respect to the beauty of the fashion covers and stylish furniture, the focus of a futon sale is on comfort, which is delivered by the futon mattress. Such sales programs help keep futons one of today’s most vibrant categories in the home furnishings industry.
“Our futons rival traditional sofa seating comfort at a fraction of the price…they’re a genuine value. Hundreds of futon retailers big and small come to Gold Bond for unparalleled quality, comfort and overall value. We teach this as a step by step process,” Vice President of Sales and Marketing Andy Freedman says.
’Comfort Closes Sales’
“Futon Retailers must maximize the performance of each product they offer. Gold Bond’s job is to partner with futon retailers, to show a sales force how our products work. We share our worldwide experiences every business day,” Gold Bond President Bob Naboicheck says.
Andy Freedman adds, “Futon retailers tailor showrooms and futons’ appearance to appeal to their own markets. In this regard the futon is a chameleon. But remember, comfort closes sales.
“We visited a high end Massachusetts furniture store. The owner turned his nose up at the very notion of futons on his showroom floor. It’s a store where $2,200 sofas are the thing. Their concern centered on their image, on price points,” Mr. Freedman says. “They viewed the futon as, well, not their cup of tea.
Sales Training Creates ‘Huge Winner’
“We presented today’s new futons. Once they accepted the notion and saw the potential, understood the comfort-to-cost ratio inherent in our futon program, they floored a program. Then the sales training program was initiated. Training provided product confidence and excitement. Now they promote futons’ comfort. It is a plus that futons make a decidedly ‘in’ fashion statement. Futons are a huge winner for this company now,” he says. “It brings results that are well known to retailers’ accounting departments; numbers go up after Gold Bond’s sales training is complete.”
Over 30 Percent Growth Not Uncommon
One conservative New England retailer says, “I did not want to see these guys but they kept after me. I kept saying ‘not now’ and ‘hey, we’re OK with what we have’. Finally I let them in. They provided an intense sales training session. Five weeks later, our futon sales numbers were up over 35 percent, and we’re still growing thanks to that meeting in which ‘comfort’ was emphasized. We now schedule them in on a regular basis.”
Gold Bond strives to remain true to its independently owned, family-run, 105 year-old history in which futon retailers are partners and friends, and strong two-way communications are prized.
Omni Futon Cover Goes To The Great Outdoors
With their Summer fabric update, Omni announced the introduction of two fabrics for futon covers and a trim that are weather and fade resistant! Fabrics, Weather Palm, and Weather Tan Stripe were introduced to customers in early June along with Weather Herbal Braid. These fantastic fabrics and trim will work wonderfully in rooms with lots of exposure to the sun and/or elements. Marcia Nachreiner General Manager says, “These additions are truly the product of customer requests. So many of our customers were asking for futon covers that would work on a sun porch, it was only natural for us to add these to our line.” Botanical and tropical looks are so hot right now, and the “Weathers” keep right up with that trend.
WHITE LOTUS FUTON: Twenty Four Years of Natural Handcrafted Quality
Coinciding with Earth Day 2004, White Lotus Home of Princeton and New Brunswick, NJ celebrates their twenty-fourth year in operation. “Since 1981, White Lotus (formerly White Lotus Futon) has been making, entirely by hand, futon mattresses and pillows from natural fibers like cotton and wool and offering furniture for the home crafted from sustainably harvested domestic hardwoods without toxic finishes,” said company owner Theodore Casparian.
“A handmade all-cotton futon mattress from White Lotus is free of toxins, more comfortable, more supportive, biodegradable and inexpensive (most under $300),” Casparian said. White Lotus Futon also offers a variety of other futon mattresses and pillows based upon this Earth-friendly model, using other natural materials like wool and rubber (from rubber trees), buckwheat hulls, kapok (from ceiba trees) and selected conventional materials chosen for their diminished impact on the planet.
White Lotus Futon and its partner woodworkers are unique in their adherence to strict standards of Earth stewardship in furniture production. “In addition to the environmental benefits of utilizing carefully selected hard woods like ash, maple, walnut and cherry from sustainably managed United States forests, the concomitant pride in handcrafting futons with the Earth's benefit in mind leads to superior quality and longevity of the final product,” Casparian said. All finishes used are chosen with health and safety as top priorities. “Finally, White Lotus is committed to empowering people to use their wallets to help themselves and our Earth at the same time, and so it makes an effort to keep prices affordable,” Casparian added. As such, everything sold at White Lotus Futon is the very best available, while only slightly more costly than shoddy goods which also destroy our Earth and provide poor value, as they must be replaced more often.
Harvey Bigelow Designs New All wood Sofa Buddy
New England manufacturer Harvey Bigelow Designs has teamed with California’s Sofa Buddy, Inc. to build the first all-wood Sofa Buddy utility table.
Described in recent advertising as a “Combo Coffee-Dining-Work Table”, it was designed to complement futons and sofa beds but until recently only the original steel and glass-top model was available for sale.
But Harvey Bigelow changed all that. Tapping into years of design experience, he developed and built the first all-wood prototype of this unique, new item that he and inventor, Robert Daniel, believe could be a winner in the marketplace.
“As soon as I saw it,” said Bigelow, “I knew it had potential – something you could eat off, or work on, and all from the comfort of your futon sofa. What a great way to watch TV. And, when you’re done, there are no storage problems – just push it away, (on its wheels) and it’s your coffee table again.”
This all-wood product has attractive Mission overtones that will complement most settings, from traditional to modern. And in keeping with Bigelow’s strict adherence to quality, it uses only high-grade, indigenous American hardwoods.
In conclusion, Daniel said, “We’re proud to say we have a product that’s made in the USA by Americans, for Americans – sadly, an increasing rarity.”
Futon Life Web Site Number One search engine destination
The Futon Life Magazine web site (www.futonlife.com), a pioneer in providing its entire content on the web, has become the destination choice for consumers looking for futon furniture. During a recent check of the top search engines www.futonlife.com came up number one on Yahoo®, MSN, Lycos and Alta Vista, and number two on the top rated Google® for the search word “futon”.
“We are very proud to have captured the top spot for futons on the web,” said Futon Life Publisher, Joe Tatulli. “By developing content that educates consumers, answers their questions, and helps them make the choice to purchase futon furniture our site is an asset for all our advertisers and the industry at large.”
The site routinely garners over 20,000 unique visitors per month with an average 3.7 page views per visit.
FL