By Marc Barnes, Special to Casual Living, a supplement to Furniture Today
If the only constant in business is change, the one constant in the outdoor furnishings space last year was change in a hurry.
A spot check of 10 providers revealed that robust demand last year meant that going into 2021, the supply side had to change. Some accelerated their move from foreign to domestic production, some made improvements to their supply chains to speed up the process, and some upgraded websites.
But all had one thing in common: They had to figure out the challenges that they were facing and how to meet them, and they had to move fast.
At Summer Classics, founder Bew White says that the biggest opportunity he sees in 2021 is a return to normalcy.
“We are expecting a pretty substantial growth for this year, partially due to our large backlog of orders at the end of 2020,” said White. “But we expect people will continue to nest at least through the end of June.”
He added that one of the biggest ways that his company will take advantage of opportunities in the near future will be to continue its exodus from China.
“We’ve successfully moved about 40% of our production out of China, and we need to move probably another 40% within the next several years,” said White. “We’ve also been a design-focused company, and we introduced 170 new products this year. … Focusing on millennials is completely different than our past focus on Gen X, Gen Y and Baby Boomers.”
Among the most important tactics for Summer Classics, White said, is “a bigger focus on dining, a bigger focus on designers, a bigger focus on contract, a bigger focus on what makes retail work, a bigger focus on branding, a bigger focus on differentiation, bigger focus on e-commerce.”
William Kruzel, partner and luxury outdoor specialist for Mamagreen, said that he sees a huge surge in retail in 2021, at least partially as the result of how consumers perceive outdoor areas in their home.
“Outdoor living space has gone a tremendous way to help keep ahold of many people’s sanity while being quarantined or forced to living all aspects of their lives from home,” Kruzel said, “a consequence being the understanding of the ROI from a more finished area, above just opening up a $500 set dining table and chairs with a $50 umbrella.”
To meet the demand, Mamagreen will continue efforts begun last year to build up stock. “So many projects were put on hold, then when the value opened up a bit, many requests needed things ‘yesterday,’” he said. “We are continuing to focus on building up additional stock to give customers in all markets short timeframe options.”
The company has made other improvements as well.
“Mamagreen has made great strides in continuing to improve our already-popular website, adding a color coordinator feature to view items instantly in different color combinations,” said Kruzel. “We have added 2D and 3D files that can easily be downloaded, (and) we have 24/7 chat available too.”
He added that the past year was one of shortages. “The ongoing challenge for many manufacturers has been supply chain disruptions with our own suppliers, with outdoor mills in particular. That has reinforced the value of having a diverse supply base.”
At Agio USA, President Doug Peppler said that COVID-19 will continue to be a major influence in the economy and in the lives of consumers.
“People who stayed at home for work, school or safety began to adapt to the ‘new normal’ by making their homes more comfortable,” he said, adding that being homebound actually translated into more online shopping.
Agio has responded by working with dotcoms to get more of its merchandise posted online.
“We’re doing everything we can to help our retailers sell our products, by offering virtual showroom tours, holding Zoom calls and video calls, and air-freighting product samples to them for sign-off on orders,” said Peppler. “We continue to change the way we’re selling our products in order to meet the needs of today’s retailer expectations.”
The demand is there. The supply is the challenge.
“Our industry faces many difficult challenges, everything from exchange rates and currency issues to shipping stresses in every port around the globe,” said Peppler, adding, “Getting product into stores is slowing down to a crawl. Our strategy is to keep pace with these hurdles, be as nimble as possible and try to negate these problems as quickly as they come up.”
The best lesson, he said, is to communicate relentlessly. “Never stop communicating, both with your own team and with your customers.”
At OW Lee Co., Inc., Leisa Rogers McCollister, vice president of marketing, said that the story of 2020 was one of almost unprecedented demand, which she said will continue into 2021.
“Demand for O.W. Lee products through the pandemic has soared, and we expect this to continue into 2021,” said McCollister. “The challenge has been keeping up with demand in a factory we have very much outgrown. We plan to make changes in 2021 that will afford us the opportunity to grow.”
The biggest change is moving its corporate headquarters and production 1,270 miles from California to Texas, with expectation to be fully operational later this spring.
“We are proud to manufacture in the U.S., and this move will preserve that,” said McCollister. “Our manufacturing facility will be more than double the square footage, which will allow us to keep up with demand surges and stock more quick ship items, among other things.”
McCollister added, “It’s important to continually ask yourself what your company’s strengths and weaknesses are and where new opportunities for your company might lie. Be aware of what your competition is doing and what their strengths are, too.
“That way, if something comes at you from left field (for example, a pandemic), you will probably already have an idea of how you can pivot.”
At Barlow Tyrie, Executive Vice President Charles Hessler said the main opportunity he sees for the company in North America for 2021 is to continue to grow its brick-and-mortar dealer base.
“New dealers have been a key component of our growth over the past several years, and an increased commitment from existing dealers has been and continues to be a key factor in our growth potential,” said Hessler.
To get there, Barlow Tyrie is looking to find ways to move orders from the warehouse to the stores more quickly.
“Speed to market has always been a key to partnering with our dealers and trade business,” said Hessler. “We are continually discussing ways to make our warehouse and shipping procedures more efficient and effective.”
Additionally, Barlow Tyrie is finding new ways to introduce itself.
“Our marketing department in England is working hard to increase consumer awareness of our brand with a new website, more social media focus and a fresh new look with more upscale imagery,” he said. “Add to that some exciting new product introductions across key categories, and you have a recipe for success.”
As it turns out, the pandemic taught – again – the importance of focusing on the basics.
“If you have it, they will buy it,” said Hessler. “As a manufacturer, you need to anticipate as best you can your customer’s needs. You need to make sure you have the goods on hand, then do your best to deliver the goods in a timely manner. When those two things are aligned, everyone is happy — and successful.”
At Outer, Jiake Liu, co-founder and CEO, said 2021 will be about the need for outdoor space, particularly as the pandemic eases and people are able to socialize safely again.
“Our 2021 growth strategy will be focused on these areas while taking note of consumer trends that we feel are here to stay, including a new appreciation for comfort, high value of personal outdoor space and greater concern for the environment,” said Liu.
Outer’s recent completion of $10.5 million in Series A funding will be used to expand the brand, by creating jobs, adding to its basic inventory, undertaking research and product development, and expanding its Neighborhood Showroom program to more than 1,000 locations across the U.S.
That program uses the homes — and patios — of real Outer customers as mini-showrooms. Eighty percent of Outer customers have interacted with hosts in these neighborhood setting.
“The uncertainty of the past year has shown us how important it is to remain flexible and adaptable to the changing needs of customers,” said Liu. “Our initial success was rooted in the time that our team spent designing and developing our first product that truly won our customers over.
“As we look to diversify our offerings and evolve into an outdoor living brand, we will continue to place a strong emphasis on these two aspects of the business.”
Perry Solomon, senior vice president of residential sales for Woodard Furniture, said that the opportunities in 2021 will come about by first concentrating on what the needs are.
“We see opportunities by channeling and providing the proper product, materials and support for every segment of our business,” said Solomon.
The biggest change to take advantage of future opportunities will lie in a move back to the basics, by “simplifying and enhancing our line and our materials, be it reduction in SKUs, website, catalogs, etc., to make it simpler and more enticing to order Woodard and Mallin product,” said Solomon. “We are increasing our parts inventory, reducing our lead times and more importantly, improving communication. … We have also established a monthly newsletter to keep our reps and dealers informed.”
The year 2020 did offer some lessons.
“We have learned that, above all, customers want dependability, clarity and honesty,” said Solomon. “Having a factory in the U.S. is a big factor in meeting their requirements.”
At Sunset West, owner Wes Stewart said that 2021 looks to be a promising year, with sales continuing to accelerate and factories being able to keep up with demand, for the most part.
“With the demand in business strong, I am looking at our own internal opportunities for improvement,” said Stewart. “Process and communication will be key.”
He said that a further adoption of technology is on the horizon to take advantage of opportunities in the near future.
“I think the biggest change we are faced with is the shift from traditional tradeshows and the acceleration of the demand for more information digitally,” said Stewart. “We enjoyed a pretty good turnout this summer when we hosted a virtual showroom tour, and this is something we will move forward with in conjunction with our normally scheduled tradeshows for the foreseeable future. Also, we are launching a new site with better functionality.”
He acknowledged that some changes involve a greater reliance on the basics. “We are ordering framesets, fabrics and other materials at a much greater quantity and much more frequently. … I also think our suppliers are becoming better at their individual roles and the net result is a better, more well-sorted product for the consumer.”
Benjamin Ma, vice president at Treasure Garden, said that the outdoor room has become more important because of COVID-19, in both residential and commercial applications. Consumers are continuing to make home improvements, while restaurants need outdoor shade to have a place for customers to be served outside.
“We are positioning ourselves to turn product as quickly as physically possible and working hard, to dial in, as best we can long fabric lead times into the process to keep product flowing into our dealer base,” said Ma. “We are working closely with our factories in China to ensure adequate product flow both domestically and on a direct container basis. We have increased on-hand stock to fulfill dealer needs as quickly as we possibly can. We also continue to partner with our fabric suppliers to be first in line with needed popular fabrications.”
Ma added Treasure Garden sees an increased online presence as important just now.
“With many employees across the country working from home, the Internet has been a go-to source for information in the casual industry,” said Ma. “We have increased our online advertising and social media presence to keep our customers informed with the latest information and to debut product introductions. We will continue to focus our message on working from home in the comfort of your own back yard.”
For Telescope, 2020 went well and 2021 is going even better, said Kathy Juckett, president and CEO.
“Other than the fact that the outdoor market is booming, there are three big factors contributing to our recent success: being American-made, American-sourced and our ability to produce and ship quickly,” she said.
“Not only is everyone home and investing in their home spaces, but we find consumers are more interested in where their products are coming from.”
Changes within Telescope included hiring 77 new employees for its production team, continuing to make improvements to its Lean Manufacturing model and investing in new machinery and equipment.
Other changes included upgrading its website to enable customers to not only color-customize all 700 products in the catalog, but also to drop the furniture into their own environment.
Additionally, Telescope built a virtual showroom online and updated an existing Show on the Go sales presentation. “We are committed to continually making our brand easier to shop from both a retailer and consumer perspective,” said Juckett.
“We have all witnessed this year just how quickly our culture and global climate can change. Being able to adapt quickly is imperative to continue to thrive.”
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