Bedroom/Dining Room Furniture Survey High Point National Furniture Market - April 1998

Furniture World News

Times are good and people have money to spend. The governmental efforts to balance the budget are adding to the confidence level. Inflation is under control at home and the dollar continues to gain strength on the world markets. Hardwood sawmills and veneer mills are enjoying good domestic business, even though the export business is soft. Production is strong, and human resource shortages are a larger concern than raw material supplies. The furniture buyers came, they looked, and they bought. It was a good market! More than 85 new introductions were announced. These included traditional and contemporary styling, and a new word was coined-"Boomer Casual." Several years ago, dining room units and bedroom units were about 50150. Today, bedroom outnumbers dining room by about 24 %. Does this mean the baby boomers, at their advanced age, still prefer a romp in the bedroom over a quiet dinner in their neat little dining rooms? Huh? Or, does that mean, like all other generations, as the kids leave the nest, eating out becomes the fashion. Overall, the finishing seemed to favor a natural look, with a very low sheen. This would again be in keeping with the casual look. Twice a year since 1934, voluntary crews from the various associations have taken an unbiased survey of bedroom and dining room casegoods, identifying bedroom and dining room by style and the materials used in the manufacturing process. The survey crews, usually twoperson teams, walk by every showroom in search of the bedroom and dining room units and the modular wall units, entertainment centers, and computer home station casegoods. They are instructed to tally all the wood imitations as well, because we really want our readers to know what is happening in this segment of the market. The American Walnut Manufacturers (AWMA), and the Fine Hardwood Veneer Association [FHVA] first started the survey, but now they receive assistance from the staff of the Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, Inc. (AHMI), Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Association [HPVA], and the Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association [SLMA]. At this market, cherry was the leading material used in the manufacture, followed by pine, red oak, white oak, mahogany, hard maple and ash. As in the previous market, pecan and rubberwood made a fairly good showing. We are still awaiting the return of walnut. Rubberwood is from Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia, It is the wood taken from the rubber plantation trees after they have quit producing latex. The plantation trees are managed on a 20-year cycle. The first ten years they merely grow, the next ten they produce latex, and at the end of twenty years they are cut down and manufactured into relatively inexpensive lumber and replanted to start the cycle all over again. The fact the rubberwood trees are not very large at the end of the 20-year cycle, explains why the lumber is in fairly thin strips and often displayed in a butcher-block pattern. When shipped into our American markets, other trade names such as Beechwood and Asian Oak are usually used. Several additional new wood names, not commonly found in the United States, have been in evidence at recent markets. Daniellia is a common name for Ogea, which is grown in Africa and has been used in Europe. Mindi is another wood that we have seen in the past couple markets. It is believed to be a species more commonly known as Chinaberry tree in the US. It is a small tree [12 ft long log x 1-2 ft in diameter] by SE Asian standards, but typical for a plantation tree. It is typically the lighter colored sapwood that is the most desirable. The furniture made from this species is often sold as "ash" on the American market. Many of the traditional casegoods are made from solid lumber. However, when quality is of the highest priority, the bedroom headboards and dresser tops, dining room table tops, and major portions of the wall units, entertainment centers, and home computer stations will incorporate the use of fine hardwood veneers along with the solids. The matched veneers maximize the beauty of real wood. The technically superior veneer panels are flatter, more stable, and lighter in weight than a same sized panel made from solid strips of lumber. According to the numbers, cherry [20.6 % ], pine [ 12.5 % ], red oak [ 12. 0 % ], white oak [7.6%], mahogany [7.2%], hard maple [6.2%], and ash [5.3%] were the most popular wood species used in bedroom and dining room casegoods. Painted wood, printed wood, and other wood imitations or substitutes totaled 17.9% of the market . The bedroom and dining room styles did not change appreciably from last market, as American and Contemporary continued to dominate. We are seeing more traditional SE Asian [Oriental] styles offered to the US market. The style numbers did not make a significant change in the wall units, entertainment center and home computer station categories. However, when it comes to the materials used to manufacture the wall units, etc., there were significant changes. Our crews felt like they saw more wood imitations being used, especially paper and vinyl overlays. Of the bedrooms, 62% were made in the USA, and 55% were constructed from a combination of solids and veneered panels. For the dining rooms, 56% were made in the USA, and 56% percent were made using a combination of solid and veneered panel type of construction. Overall, this was a good market. For more information or to receive more detailed data contact Larry Frye, at fhvaawmawc@compuserve.com