White Oak Leads
White Oak Leads Furniture Market; “Oak” Has Softer Promotion By Tom Inman, President of Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, Inc. From remarks during a National Hardwood Lumber Association webinar designed for Hardwood lumber sales and marketing staff to understand domestic and international furniture manufacturing trends in 2023. Retail furniture buyers and designers liked wooden furniture with grain at the spring 2023 High Point Furniture Market, held in High Point, NC. The manufacturers responded with dozens of offerings in identifiable White Oak and others in “Oak” with descriptive language about the grain and color but subspecies not recorded. It was an interesting notation at a few locations while others proudly showcased Walnut, Hard Maple, Brown Maple and Cherry. The High Point Market is held annually in April and October and thousands of retail buyers meet with manufacturers of all product categories to see new designs. With an estimated impact of more than billion annually, the event attracts more than 40,000 makers, retail buyers, designers and suppliers. A positive sign for High Point was “new buyer” registration was up 4.8 percent from last fall, said Ashley Grigg, High Point Market Authority vice president of strategic growth and partnerships. It was up 21% from a year ago. There were record retail sales in 2021 and 2022 - an estimated billion – as consumers were home during Covid-19 lockdowns. Many purchased new homes or renovated existing houses to push retail sales to 15- year highs. Consumer spending averaged just over 0 a person from 2012-2018 and rose to 5 per person in 2021. Sales fell in the second half of 2022 as consumers were traveling and spending disposable income on other items. Furniture retailers reported warehouses were full of orders placed in the prior six months. This trend was reflected at the April 2023 High Point Market as manufacturers had new products in existing lines but there were few large introductions. Sales goals were back to 2018 or 2019 levels as company leaders realized the cooling of retail markets. Two surveys at the market tracked consumer demand in two areas: color and planned purchases. The color trends for 2023 are: •40 percent darker finish on textured wood •30 percent shade of grey on textured wood •20 percent medium brown •10 percent light The second was a Consumer Insight Study from Home News Now on planned purchases. Consumer said they planned to buy area rugs and accessories in 2023. Wood furniture for bedroom, dining and tables was planned by 18-24% of respondents. Long-time furniture analyst Jerry Epperson, Founder/ Managing Director of Mann, Armistead & Epperson, Ltd. in Richmond, VA, said many furniture factories are imperiled from a lack of incoming orders for the past six months. He noted that consumer activity has not been able to absorb the retailers’ excess inventory. Epperson predicted the imbalance will likely last into the second half 2023. The next High Point Market is Oct. 14-18, 2023. NHLA members can view the webinar for free by logging into www.nhla.com. There is a fee for non-members. n Bernhardt - White Oak Copeland Furniture - Cherry Copeland Furniture - Walnut “Fair” market for companies with offerings in Walnut, Hard Maple, Cherry and Hickory - Fusion Design Century Furniture - White Oak Vaughan-Bassett Furniture - White Oak Vaughan-Bassett’s Heritage group added new pieces to the collection. 32 AUGUST 2023 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE RealAmericanHardwood.com/industry RealAmericanHardwood.com/industry AUGUST 2023 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 33
