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NEW YORK- The continuing consolidation of the
national retail environment has forced home
decor manufacturers to seek new business
opportunities.
With vendors anxiously looking to replace lost
business from defunct retailers, many have
seized the opportunity to supply today's top
retailers with product for private-label
programs.
While the short term result is increased
business for vendors, the question is whether
in the long term home decor vendors are in
danger of losing control of their own brands.
Unlike a number of segments
in housewares, consumers historically have not
had a great deal of brand recognition with
home decor products. While a small percentage
may recognize names such as Stiffel, Sauder
and Burnes of Boston, an overwhelming number
of consumers purchase home decor items based
solely on design.
"We have never been able to
fully establish our brand with shoppers," said
Alan Long, president of Cheyenne Home
Furnishings. "Lighting is mainly a fashion
business and consumers will buy a lamp based
on style and not brand."
The same is true with frame
manufacturers, as the explosion in style has
served to increase business, but not brand
awareness. "Picture frames have moved from
merely functional items to those that are
great decorative accent pieces," said Michelle
Meyer, vp/marketing at Uniek.
The increasing role of
fashion in portable lighting and frames has
been key for manufacturers. Providing their
customers with items that are cutting edge in
terms of design and style helps fight off not
only their competitors, but also gives
retailers pause from going direct to factories
for such categories.
To stay ahead of coming fashion trends,
manufacturers such as Cheyenne have hired
full-time designers, who are focused on
designing new products and keeping an eye out
for the next hot trend.
"We have used freelance
designers in the past, but felt it was time to
bring someone on board full-time," Long
recalled. "We were feeling pressure from some
of our retail customers to provide them with
lighting products that were more
fashion-forward."
However, the issue of
retailers going direct to factories is one
vendors are watching closely. While not a
major concern currently, manufacturers
continue to up the level of customer service
as a method of keeping clients satisfied.
"The key today is giving retailers a great
deal of value-added service," said Paul Mayer,
president of clock manufacturer Chaney
Instruments. "This includes doing everything
from staying ahead of the fashion curve to
handling returns and helping with planograms."
"This is no longer a
business of just buying and selling product,"
added Long. "We have a staff of people that
work directly with retailers and tend to those
issues that may arise."
Conversely, the RTA
furniture industry continues to have a number
of branded items in retail outlets. While
brand recognition with RTA is not
overwhelming, some such as Sauder, O'Sullivan,
and Bush do enjoy some limited level of brand
awareness with consumers.
In some instances at mass
retail, private label and controlled national
brands are gaining momentum in home decor. In
either situation, the retailer gets credit for
the brand, and vendors are put in a middle-man
position vulnerable to the potential for a
retailer to change its supplier preferences—
or to possibly go direct.
In at least one recent
case, though, a specific vendor has remained
an integral part of a major retailer’s
controlled national brand pursuit in RTA.
Target for several seasons has had RTA
furniture provided by Creative Interiors under
the retailer’s Furio name. Together, the two
companies recently debuted the Renovations
from Thomasville collection exclusive to the
Target.
Target, which was looking to add a brand name
to its RTA department, chose Thomasville after
surveys showed consumers identifying it as a
well-known brand of furniture.
Since hitting Target shelves, Thomasville RTA
sales have been brisk, according to Phil
Miller, vp of Creative Interiors, a sister
company of Thomasville that supplies the RTA
to Target.
The Thomasville name has a certain credibility
and gives consumers confidence when purchasing
RTA products with that name,” he added.
While early returns on the
Thomasville/Target partnership have been good,
can other home decor manufactures build brand
awareness?
"I would love to be able to
build a brand," said Uniek's Mayer. "However
it takes a lot of time and money to get a
certain level of consumer recognition."
And with the competitive
nature of today's retail climate, many vendors
cannot afford either the time or resources to
do so, experts said.
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