Omni Softgoods Joins Night & Day Furniture And Otis Bed In San Francisco And Philadelphia in 2004

Night & Day Furniture, Otis Bed and Omni Softgoods, three major players in the futon sofa sleeper industry, will be showing together at the San Francisco show January 28–31, Mart 2, Space 701, and March 21–23 at the FAI show in Philadelphia in 2004. Marcia Nachreiner, General Manager of Omni Softgoods, shares, “We are really looking forward to our first shows with Mike Gallawa, John Roma and Karen Day. Displaying our products with these two co-leaders in the futon industry is a great way to start a new year.”

Omni provides “High Profile” futon covers that fit, Otis provides “High Performance” futon mattresses that fit like a glove and both are shown on “High Quality” futon frames from Night & Day. This trifecta provides the perfect mix of quality, style and versatility.

“We are very excited about our new web site too,” said Nachreiner, “Having the opportunity to provide our retail customers and futon buyers accurate information, assistance and choices, via the web, gives Omni one more avenue in its promise to provide excellent customer service.”

Bourne’ International Completes the Futon Package

With the recent release of two additional beds in their teak product line, Bourne’ now offers coordinated bedroom groupings with all their futon arm designs. This includes the newly released Prairie Mission and Panel beds. Also the Macintosh and Mission beds with case goods. These correspond with Bourne’s Craftsman, Prairie, Macintosh and Olympic arm designs for their futon sofa sleeper frames. To further fill their collections, Bourne’ also has available occasional tables, room screens, rocking chairs and other accessory pieces, in both natural teak and cherry finished teak.

In addition, both the bedroom and futons in the Urban Mission and Lodge pole collections are offered with correlated case goods and accessories.

This allows Bourne’ dealers to diversify their presentation to a larger consumer audience for greater potential sales.

Bourne’ also announced that ninety percent of their futon sofa sleeper frame designs now incorporate their “Friendly Front Operated” system for the consumer. This system allows their futon sleepers to be converted from the bed position to couch position, from the front easily. It uses a front “sleep lock” position that virtually prevents consumer breakage. The easy conversion method, combined with their furniture cleat construction, mortise and tenon joinery, support reinforcements, heavy neoprene rollers and glides, and brass conversion plates, makes Bourne’s frames among the strongest in the futon industry.

Sofa Buddy Makes PractiCal Solution

If you’re into futons and sofa beds, it’s because they’re practical. And now, intriguingly, there’s a brand new product, designed to work with them, that’s actually called the “PractiCal”.

Built by California’s Sofa Buddy, Inc., this newly patented product is described as “the world’s very first made-for-watching-TV table”. It’s 48 inches long by 24 inches wide and 24 inches high. It’s constructed with tempered glass for safety, a solid steel frame for strength and durability and twin-caster wheels for easy mobility. It sells for $199.00.

Says inventor and Sofa Buddy CEO, Robert Daniel, “It’s a combination coffee table, dining table, work table and a desk. We designed it to bring the TV viewing experience into the 21st century.”

So, how does it work?

“Well,” says Daniel, who’s seated on a sofa, “as you can see, at the moment, it’s a coffee table. But now, watch this…” He leans forward, grabs the PractiCal, and pulls it, gently, on its smoothly gliding wheels, up against the sofa. “Now it’s a dining table,” he says, tapping it, as if rewarding a pet. And sure enough, the PractiCal relates to Daniel’s body as a dining table would.

“The side facing towards me is designed for two people,” he says. “My wife and I eat every evening with the TV news. And the lower shelf, down here, between us, is great for remote controls – I reach down, push a button, and we’re instantly on a new channel. But now, watch this…”

Daniel turns the table, on its wheels, 180 degrees; then sitting in the center position, he opens up his laptop on the PractiCal’s large, open work surface. “Now it’s a desk. And I have these lower shelves on both sides, within easy reach. One I use for my briefcase and the other shelf I replace temporarily with a filing tray I brought from the office. I like to watch Monday Night Football this way–kill two birds with one stone.”

Daniel, clearly animated by his product, continues: “We were intrigued by why it wasn’t out there–maybe folks knew something we didn’t, so we went in search of answers. The question, though, quickly mutated. It wasn’t ‘Why isn’t our product out there?’–it’s ‘Why are traditional coffee tables still being used in modern, active dens and family rooms?’ At 18 inches high, on average, there’s not much you can do with a coffee table. I mean, can you pull a coffee table up over your knees and use it? We asked scores of folks in the furniture trade. To our surprise, the only answers we got were: ‘Don’t know, never thought about it.’ Or, even scarier: ‘So you can put your feet on it?’

Only one person had the answer: It’s all wrapped up in one word–tradition. You go buy a sofa, you buy a coffee table. You don’t ask why, you do it-it’s traditional. We’re programmed.”

“Reinvent the wheel,” says Daniel, “and folks still know it’s a wheel. If they need a wheel, they might buy yours. But invent something totally new and they may not realize they have a need for your product. That, to start with, is the trick–making them realize they have that need.”

That’s why Sofa Buddy is actively engaged in the futon and sofa bed market. “It’s market based, not on tradition, but on functional needs, so folks are more likely to recognize a need they have for a product like ours. After all, the person who sits on a futon, then folds it down to sleep on, is unlikely to pass up the opportunity to use that futon as a dining chair, or a desk chair, or a crafts’ chair. In other words, the PractiCal brings all that added value to a product they already own–their futon or sofa bed. It’s practical by nature–PractiCal by name.”