by Monthly event started off strong early on, but interest appears to have faded on the heels of two successful High Point markets
HIGH POINT — With so many furniture markets in recent months — June High Point, summer Las Vegas, September Premarket and October High Point — perhaps the last thing the industry wants to hear about is, you guessed it, yet another chance to see more product.
Which begs the question; What’s up with First Tuesday?
Retailers may recall the first of these events took place about a year ago this month. True to its name, First Tuesday was a chance for vendors to open their showrooms the first Tuesday of each month to retailers wanting to shop product or discuss distribution in still-challenging times riddled with supply chain issues.
That’s a big reason why First Tuesday got off to a strong start, not only offering retailers a chance to shop inline goods, but also new goods they may have missed at a previous High Point Market. A committee was even formed to help oversee the event and address issues as they arose.
However, that committee hasn’t met since September, sources say. Dealer attendance also has dropped off in recent months, which could be from market malaise after so many markets in a row, combined with a lack of new product ever since.
Several resources interviewed by Home News Now said they hadn’t seen anyone this past First Tuesday, while others simply haven’t even opened for the event since the summer or spring months.
Even Manwah USA, whose former CEO Guy Ray first came up with the concept, only saw one or two accounts this past week, compared to a dozen or more accounts it had in during each event through most of this year.
Some attribute the sparse attendance to the time of the year. Others attribute it to the fact that many don’t need to come into town to see inline goods they have already seen, perhaps many times over.
One resource described it more bluntly.
“I used to do First Tuesday, but we never had any luck with it,” said Maurice Pleasants, a sales rep for upholstery resource Elran Furniture. “I saw it as a waste of my time.”
Pleasants was at the showroom this past Tuesday, packing up floor samples and welcoming any accounts that dropped by. But this could have been any day of the week as the showroom keeps its doors open for customers that are in town.
“The showroom is available to my customers any time,” he said, adding that First Tuesday wasn’t a bad concept, particularly in that it gets people to use their showrooms more than just a couple of weeks out of the year. “People do come in on other days. We need to make as much use of the showroom as we can.”
That said, First Tuesday still exists in some way, at least in concept as others, too, have started keeping their showrooms open to customers year round, including on the first Tuesday of each month.
“While First Tuesday attendance may have dropped off some, we are still actively using our showroom 12 months out of the year,” said Len Burke, vice president, marketing at Klaussner Home Furnishings. “It has created an opportunity for us to use it throughout the year. We are here and ready when our customers are ready.”
Doug Rozenboom, president of A.R.T Furniture, took a similar view.
“I hadn’t heard that phrase here in a little while,” he said of First Tuesday, noting that much of the original focus was on getting dealers much-needed product in an environment of supply chain challenges, while also letting them see new goods they may have missed. “Now the backlogs are so long that you can have a First Tuesday, but you still have to work through your backlog. Our position is if someone wants to come into town, we are here and we are open…Literally, if one customer wanted to come visit us, we would be open — no matter what their size, A.R.T. opens its doors.”
At Manwah USA, officials said that they expected a couple of customers this week, which is far less than its typical First Tuesday attendance. Regardless, they believe the event has gotten them and others to think differently about how they use their showrooms.
“We have a couple of majors coming in this week, so we are open,” said Kevin Castellani, director of corporate communications for Manwah USA. “And we are open all the time. We are open whenever somebody wants to come in.”
Some, including A.R.T. Furniture and others, haven’t actively participated in First Tuesday in some time.
Rick Stroud, North American sales director at case goods and upholstery resource Enza Home, said that the last time the company actively participated in a First Tuesday event was in June right before the High Point Market.
“It was a slow build,” he said of the start of the event in late 2020. “I had one person in December, a couple of people in January and then I started getting five, six, seven people in. By June, it just seemed to evaporate.”
He attributed this to strong early publicity for the event, that was followed by a sudden drop off in news stories about First Tuesday. At the same time, he noted, there was some concern in the industry that many companies listed in a weekly industry trade publication as being open during the event didn’t actually open their doors, thus giving retailers a false sense of the actual size and impact of the event.
Regardless, Enza Home, like others has kept its showroom open throughout the week as it has local staff on hand to man the space. It too was open this past Tuesday and had a customer come in that said they were in town for First Tuesday.
Home News Now attempted to reach that retailer, but was unsuccessful.
“I sent an email out this morning to the entire sales team letting them know we had this retailer in yesterday and they made a very nice commitment to us,” Stroud said. “And I reiterated to them that I live here and other than the couple of weeks before the April and October market, the showroom is set up.”
He added this helps accommodate retailers coming in between markets, which he said is a more common occurrence than ever due to Covid-19 related disruptions.
“You have got far more activity between markets with more major retailers visiting High Point than you ever have,” he added, noting that hardly a week goes by when someone from the buying team at Rooms to Go isn’t in town.
Case goods and upholstery resource Sunpan, used to promote First Tuesday events on its website, alerting dealers in town that it was open for the event. However it hasn’t done that since June, said Roland Maddrey, key accounts manager at Sunpan.
Since then, the event became somewhat of an afterthought even though the company has continued to stay open five days a week for dealers and designers alike. Sunpan also had good activity at the June and October markets, Maddrey said, which made First Tuesday less important than it had been in initially.
That said, the company also sees its showroom here as a year-round resource for those coming to High Point whether its for First Tuesday or not.
“We will absolutely accommodate them,” Maddrey said. “We are always reaching out to folks to invite them in for various things. We do use this as a resource and want to keep using it as a resource. But I don’t know that the First Tuesday event will be the one that trips the trigger for us.”
