Sectionals now account for more than half of Ashley’s stationary upholstery business. An example from its new Millennium whole home collection is shown here.
HIGH POINT — Stationary upholstery manufacturers and importers spent much of their time with buyers at June market. They shared how they’re adapting to ongoing supply chain problems with an eye toward making the best of a tough situation as continued demand at retail contributes to ever-rising backlogs.
Price increases, shortages and delays for everything from foam to plywood to imported kits are depressingly old news at this point, but new programs, shifts in production processes and sourcing alternatives helped assure customers they are doing what they can to eat into lead times that though improving in many cases, will remain longer than normal for a while yet.
It’s the same situation for upholstery resources across price points.
Staying current
While supply chain dominated talk, new product wasn’t lacking, with a strong upholstery component at major whole-home introductions from mid-price vendors such as Ashley’s Millennium collection and Home Meridian International’s collaboration with Drew and Jonathan Scott.
Those will take a while to get to retail, but when they do a lot of retailers will need a big merchandising refresh.
Peak Living showed 20 new collections at Premarket, and 10 of those made the cut, with 25 new groups in the works for High Point’s next market cycle. New goods for June will start shipping in six to eight months, according to Chad Cunningham, owner of the mid-price manufacturer.
“We want to make sure that when we come out on the other side of these supply issues that we’re fresh and current,” he said. “That’s why we keep going down that patch with new styles and colors.”
Home Meridian looked to its Prime Resources International’s Mexico operation for the upholstery segment of Drew & Jonathan Home. PRI Vice President of Sales and Merchandising Bobby Jones believes that proximity to the U.S. border will pay off with quicker service.
“We’ll be shipping direct truckloads with six- to eight-week lead times with special order options,” he said.
Customization growth
Since it was still firing up its domestic special-order upholstery operation in Conover, N.C., when the pandemic struck, Universal didn’t face the immediate backlogs that were the norm when retail re-opened. That had a dramatic impact on ordering patterns for the company’s upholstery segment, according to Senior Vice President of Sales Sean O’Connor.
While lead times are at 14 to 16 weeks out of Conover, that stacks up very well compared with the as-is direct container business.
“In the six months since we started opening new accounts last year, we opened 700 floors,” he said, adding that domestic goods already account for 55% of upholstery orders, surpassing the container business out of Vietnam in less than a year. “That’s growing monthly.”
Custom-order specialist Norwalk Furniture CEO Caroline Hipple not only keeps retailers aware of shifting lead times but also talks with customers about how to communicate the industry’s challenges to shoppers. Like many other manufacturers, Norwalk also builds out products without cushions so they can ship quickly when foam arrives.
“Our retailers need the language to educate their customers about what the pandemic means to the global supply chain and create the right expectations,” she said, suggesting ways to ease the tension of long waits for new furniture. “We have to say, ‘You’re going to live with this beautiful furniture for years, so a few months is worth the wait.’”
Norwalk also highlighted its “Norwalk Design Lab” in the main showroom as well as its pop-up space in Interhall. In 600 square feet, the lab displays options for all cushions and backs, all legs and wood finishes, as well as a huge assortment of fabrics. Norwalk’s Project 360 design tool is available to use on large screens to help designers and RSAs show near-infinite piece and cover options.
“You can sell 20,000 pieces of furniture out of this space,” Hipple said.
High-end action
EJ Victor started a mitigation strategy for foam early on, including building goods all the way up to cushioning, which President and CEO David Bennett said has kept the company quoting on and delivering in 10 to 12 weeks throughout the foam shortage.
“We’re putting 99% of the value into the piece so we aren’t pressing ‘start’ when the foam is ready,” he said. EJ Victor followed that up with a promotion for existing dealers on COM and in-stock fabrics with a shipping goal of six to eight weeks.
“People are more willing right now to pick available fabrics vs. what they might have wanted originally, turning upholstered pieces quicker so they don’t have to wait as long,” Bennett said. “The COM comes in, we roll it out, mark and cut it, and make the frame for immediate production. It’s eight to 10 weeks now, and it should get better. Regular order lead is 14 to 16 weeks right now.”
EJ Victor also used last year’s down time to reconfigure some processes for better efficiency. From that alone, “We’re looking at a 20% to 25% increase in capacity.”
While Taylor King’s foam allotment is up to 80%, President and COO Del Starnes said that’s not much help in reducing backlogs as orders continue to flow in. Historically, lead times ran eight to 10 weeks, but they’re now at 24 to 26, and keeping retailers apprised of progress on that is key, whether speaking or online.
“We point (lead times) out on our top banner on the website and update that continuously,” Starnes said.
While it limited introductions to play catch-up, Taylor King went ahead and committed to ordering new fabrics for goods originally set for April in order to provide more options. The showroom was adorned with fabric walls in a variety of colorful palettes.
“The furniture was in the pipeline before the foam shortage occurred, but we went forward and swatched new fabrics to customers,” Starnes said, adding production will be at full blast as foam supplies improve. “I’ve already prepared our employees that where they sometimes haven’t been working full weeks, they’re going to be working overtime.”
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June 21, 2021 at 05:29PM
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Stationary upholstery: Much ado about shipping - Furniture Today
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