Metal beds vendors said they are seeing mostly positive reaction to their lines the first few days of High Point Market as buyers look to a shrinking number of resources in the category.
Hillsdale Furniture, one of the remaining leaders in the category, has a dozen new beds here retailing from $299 to around $799 in queen size. The company expects at least half of these to go into production based on early reaction here.
Dealers like the variety of looks in the line, ranging from clean-lined contemporary to more traditional forms featuring curved details and shapely castings in the grilles of headboards and footboards.
Retailers also like the fact that many of the beds come in multiple sizes. In addition to queen and king versions, the company sells full and twin on many models, said Keith Meriwether, vice president of sales. He added that the company also invests in inventory to be able to ship them quickly to dealers' stores.
Wesley Allen says it is showcasing new designer-friendly beds here that broaden the company's style selection. A number of its new beds and introductions from last market have upholstered headboards and footboards with metal frames and nail head trim. Customers can also choose from 22 upholstery options including silks and leather.
"We just branched out," said Victor Sawan, CEO. "We have made ourselves more appealing to better-end furniture stores and designers."
Among the new items gaining both orders and interest from dealers is the Abington, a $1,500 bed with a hammered metal headboard and footboard shown in a textured moss finish. The company's Albany model features a similar hand-hammered look and is shown in an aged copper finish, with an upholstered headboard and footboard.
Dealers also are responding well to a new $999 bed shown with a silk fabric headboard and footboard and metal frame in a vintage white finish.
"We changed on purpose," Sawan added of the new styles. "If you don't change, you stand still."
The company also is showing four new styles of its opening priced Amanda Sutton beds, which it is making alongside its higher-end models in its Los Angeles factory. The line, which retails from $299 to $599 in queen, is doing well with larger mattress stores and mass merchants.
Other suppliers also are seeing activity at lower price points. Largo International is showing six new metal beds, three of which are upholstered. The all-metal versions retail from $199 to $349, while the upholstered versions retail around $399.
Leggett & Platt is showing several new models it launched in Las Vegas in January, including the $499 retail Esquire bed, which has a solid mango frame and metal spindles in a silver plated finish. Leggett's Lizmore bed, also priced at $499, is drawing interest from dealers who like its curved headboard and footboard and the swedging in the grille of the headboard and footboard.
Dealers also like the fact they can now get these and other lower-priced models shown in Las Vegas on mixed containers and out of the company's domestic warehouses in Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Houston, officials said.
