Bedroom/Dining Room Furniture Survey: High Point National Furniture Market - October 1997

Furniture World Magazine

It's been an interesting year. People have money. The government appears to be serious about efforts to balance the budget. Inflation is low. The dollar is once again gaining strength on the world markets. The hardwood lumber and veneer mills are busy. For some, production is up from previous years, for others, the situation is different. Cherry and maple are hot. Walnut is down, but quietly "hanging in." Red oak and white oak, when grouped together, are a dominant force. So, why is attendance down at the furniture market? Good question, and we do not have the answer. By some "guesstimates," attendance was down by perhaps more than 30%. Yet, the market was not all that bad. According to some reports, it was actually a good market for real wood casegoods. On the subject of new introductions, one company reported its new introduction was the best received of any in the long history of the company. Orders were taken and the attitude was not doom and gloom, as some had predicted. Twice a year since 1934, voluntary crews from the Fine Hardwood Veneer Association (FHVA) and the American Walnut Manufacturers Association (AWMA) have surveyed bedroom and dining room casegoods by style and materials used in the manufacturing process. The survey crews, usually four two-person 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 FHVA and AWMA now receives assistance from staff members of the Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association (SLMA), the Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Association (HPVA), and the Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, Inc. (AHMI). A professor at North Carolina State University also worked on the survey crew. We are hopeful NC State students will be involved in the future. At this market, Cherry continued ahead of red oak, followed by pine, mahogany, white oak, and hard maple. Pecan made a fairly strong move. We anticipated the whiter woods or finishes might lose ground to the darker finishes, and to some extent that may have been the case. According to the numbers, cherry [19.1%], red oak [15.0%], pine [12.2%], mahogany [7.5%], white oak [6.4%], hard maple [6.1%], and ash [2.8%] were the most popular wood species used in bedroom and dining room casegoods. Painted wood, printed wood, and other wood imitations or substitutes totaled 21% of the market . The bedroom and dining room styles did not change appreciably from last market, as American and Contemporary continued to dominate. The numbers did not make a significant change in the wall units, entertainment center and home computer station categories. Of the bedrooms, 84% were made in the USA, and 70% were constructed from a combination of solids and veneered panels. For the dining rooms, 68 % were made in the USA, and 72% percent were made using the solid and veneered panel type of construction. For more detailed information on this study contact: "Wood Unlimited News," E-Mail: FhvaAwmaWc@CompuServe.com, Larry R. Frye, Editor & Publisher.