SHOP TALK
August Lotz to Unveil New Products at WMC
August Lotz will be showing in space # P17413 (Pavilions, Tent 1) at the World Market Center. The July show was a huge success and the company has more exciting new products in store for this event.
New products debuting at the show include the Southgate, a white finish “cottage style” futon designed by Pete Dodge, with available matching tables.
“Our customers have been requesting this style product and we are happy to fulfill their request,” said Marketing Director Randy Geurts.
A new pre-tufted futon cover program will also be introduced. This program will allow customers to choose from 24 pre-tufted futon cover options accented with matching pillows. In addition to pre-tufted futon covers, August Lotz will offer multiple tuft colors. “Sometimes a bright white tuft sticks out like a sore thumb. The tuft should blend into or accent the futon mattress. That's why we plan to offer tufts in multiple colors,” said marketing specialist Fayne Peck.
Lotz is also introducing officially licensed Mossy Oak® and Realtree® pre-tufted futon covers. “Stores located in areas where hunting is popular need this product on their floor,” said Peck. “There are 43.7 million hunters in the United States and 13 million avid hunters. A product like this will clearly differentiate stores in the minds of these 43.7 million outdoor enthusiasts.”
Handy Living Partners with Convert-A-Couch
Chicago-based Handy Living recently partnered with Convert-A-Couch to produce innovative furniture products designed to improve consumer's lives.
Handy Living is proud to introduce the revolutionary, ultra thick, 10” E-Z Fold Futon Mattress as a standard feature on its new Convert-A-Couch line of products to be introduced at the Las Vegas Furniture Market in January.
Convert-A-Couch creator Tom Erdman states that no more wrinkles, bunching and tugging make this the best tailored futon mattress available in the market today. Convert-A-Couch will be offering four futon sofa styles in seven microfiber colors at $399 to $599 retail during the winter Vegas show.
Also being introduced will be a ground breaking, center-of-room back treatment that will allow the Convert-A-Couch to be placed in the center of the room with no hardware or futon frame parts showing. “Unless I told you, you would think this was a regular futon sofa,” Erdman stated. ”We believe this is the future of futons and dual sleep products.”
All Convert-A-Couch products can be delivered via UPS to any customer in the continental United States.
New ‘Visco Touch’ by Gold Bond Turns Futon into High End Sofa-Sleeper
Futon mattress pioneer Gold Bond announced the recently introduced “Visco Touch” single-sided futon is helping the futon industry by substantially elevating the feel of the futon. Since its Las Vegas market introduction last summer, retailers are seeing added consumer interest for increased comfort levels.
“This is a super premium mattress that competes, at $499 (full size), with $2,000 sofas in feel and comfort,” Gold Bond President Bob Naboicheck said. “Futons continue to provide consumers with the best sofa sleeper value on the market, and with the inclusion of the “Visco Touch” the futon competes with top-of-the-line home furnishings for the first time,” he notes.
Futons Plus, a leading southern New England specialty chain, began showing the “Visco Touch” shortly after its introduction. Futons Plus's Keith Widlansky said he personally has interviewed 35 to 40 futon consumers shopping the new mattress. “Each customer said the same thing. The futon mattress feels wonderful. They say ‘Oh, this must have memory foam in it.’ It sits and feels just wonderful.”
The new futon mattress is built with three inches of three pound Visco foam encased in densified fiber and five inches of 1.8 density upholstery foam. The super premium futon mattress has perfectly squared corners and a finely tailored cover.
Also, not content to rest on its laurels, Gold Bond’s most popular super premium futon mattress now contains an added layer of support foam to deliver superior support characteristics. The futon manufacturer increased the inner contents of its ultra-plush “SofTouch” super premium futon mattress to obtain a richer feel and increase its resiliency.
The makeover enables this futon to compete with top-of-the-line sofa sleepers. “We wanted our SofTouch to be a bit fuller, richer in its feel. So we took our most successful product and raised the comfort levels up another notch. This gives our ‘SofTouch’ added bounce and feel; it’s unlike any other futon in the super premium category,” Naboicheck said.
Consumers who use the “SofTouch’ as a sleeping surface each night have favorably compared it to super premium conventional futon mattress and box spring ensembles.
Visit the Gold Bond showroom in the Las Vegas World Market Center #1042 and the High Point IHFC Main #615.
American Furniture Alliance Vegas Showroom A "Must See"
“Our Elite Convertibles™ futon frame convertibles line for 2006 is impressive,” said American Furniture Alliance President John Widly. “We have added two new categories of futon frame styles, which are all in stock and ready for orders during the Las Vegas Winter Market. It’s time to discover what the home fashion experts are calling ‘the new black lacquer’... Espresso!”
American Furniture Alliance has added three new futon frame styles in a rich, smooth, espresso wood finish: Rhodes Hermosa and Carmel–which will all be featured in the company’s Las Vegas showroom, WMC 900.
Espresso is a warm, dark brown finish with a new and Contemporary feel. It kindly competes with black lacquer, but gives the consumer who is used to buying black lacquer finished furniture another option. The three new futon frame styles offered in the new espresso finish range from traditional to contemporary, and all have a timeless look.
“We have also established a new brand and line of contemporary metal futon frames, called our ModernLoft™ Collection,” said Director of Marketing Mike McCarthy. “This newly established collection contains metal frame styles that are bold, innovative, sleek and sophisticated. Almost all of the futon frame styles in this line are home deliverable.” The new line is marketed to tweens, young adults, college students and other consumers who are looking for style and affordability.
“Looking ahead, we are currently working on all of our furniture lines and thinking innovatively,” McCarthy said. “We want to continue giving our customers quality furniture products with the lowest competitive price possible. In the near future, we will be redesigning our futon mattress line and modifying our foam furniture line to reach this goal.”
FAI’s New Marketing Campaign Is Betting To Bring More Buyers
The Futon Association International (FAI) will bring their Futon Expo & Specialty Sleep Show (FE&SSS) back to Las Vegas as part of the World Market Center (WMC) winter show. Once again, FAI has leased 20,000 square feet from WMC and will hold a show-within-a-show in World Pavilion 1. FAI will be located in the same area as it was at the July 2005 show.
“We are very excited to be heading back to Las Vegas,” said Tammy Weaver from FAI Headquarters. “The July 2005 show was tremendous and is an experience that will not soon be forgotten.” As part of the January 2006 FE&SSS and to thank and reward the numerous buyers who have shown support to the Association, FAI will hold a prize giveaway. FAI will give away three fantastic prizes: Grand Prize - Home Theater; 2nd Prize - an iPod; and 3rd Prize - Five Movie Passes.
Contestants will bring their tickets to the FAI booth P17001 during show hours. Contest winners will be selected from all eligible entries received.
FAI is mailing tickets to retail stores and past show attendees. FAI will also mail tickets to futon manufacturers, futon distributors and reps to be given to their customers.
“Retailers who have received tickets are very excited about the program and eagerly looking forward to the show,” said Brian Donohoo, FAI President. “I believe the excitement will bring many buyers to the FE&SSS. Once we get them there, they will see how fashionable and functional futon products are today.”
To request a FREE ticket or learn more about the official sweepstakes rules, visit www.futon.org or send an SASE to: Futon Association International, 10705-7 Rocket Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32824.