LAS VEGAS – Stationary upholstery specialist Décor-Rest will expand its performance fabric offerings while introducing a new retail display wall when the summer market opens at the World Market Center here on July 31.

The Toronto-based producer kicked off its 45th anniversary year this past January by introducing the category at the winter edition of the Las Vega Market earlier this year.

According to J.R. Marzilli, executive vice president of the family-owned furniture manufacturer, this increased concentration on the performance fabric category is a natural progression of Décor-Rest’s business approach.

“Given our long-term focus on product innovation and quality construction, we have always been cognisant of trends that elevate product, particularly in terms of durability and wear,” Marzilli says. “The fact is that long before performance fabrics began to gain ground in the U.S., most European upholstery fabrics were considered performance quality by U.S. standards, simply due to Europe’s more stringent regulations. As a company with an Italian heritage that adheres to ISO quality standards and serves an international customer base, this means that we have always held our fabric suppliers to higher standards.”

He added Décor-Rest wants to ensure consumers shopping furniture floors across North America understand the company’s superior quality story.

“Although performance fabrics are not yet the standard in the U.S., consumers are proving they are willing to pay more for furniture upholstered in performance fabrics,” says company co-founder Christina Marzilli. “Demographically speaking, it’s no secret that the number of pets in America has exceeded the number of children in U.S. households in recent years and shoppers are hungry for stylish furniture designed to stand up to all their family members, including the furry ones.

“As our sales in the performance fabric category began increasing on the floors of leading retailers across the country, we identified an opportunity to stand out by creating new collateral and marketing tools that helps educates shoppers and make it easy for salespeople to convey key features and benefits,” she continued.

The centre piece of the new program is a wall-sized retail display featuring all 27 fabric swatches. “Each swatch is a generous 54 inches by 36 inches,” which enables shoppers to really envision what the fabric would look like on a frame,” Marzilli says. “We know that the number-one reason that consumers fail to buy is the fear of making a costly decorating mistake. The ability to drape and tuck fabrics over cushions, arms and accent pillows helps them make buying decisions easier and faster.”

Each fabric swatch is serged and features a grommet at the top left, and is clearly labeled at the bottom right. “We’ve created a well-blended, colour co-ordinated offering for a useful, eye-catching display that draws shoppers in and invites them to ‘play’,” she adds. “The program also takes all the guess-work out of the equation for buyers, who don’t have time to be running from showroom to showroom at market trying to put together a great performance fabric package.”

Also included in new collateral offering are revamped hang tags, tear pad sheets and covers for fabric rings that reinforce the Décor-Rest brand and key educational messages touting a new era in style and outstanding fabric performance. Besides features like stain resistance, durability and the fact that the fabrics are easy to clean, messaging also focus on breathability and softness.

“We think it’s important for shoppers to understand that they don’t have to sacrifice a great hand and long-lasting comfort,” she said.

During the Las Vegas Market, Décor-Rest maintains a permanent showroom in space A554.

HIGH POINT, North Carolina – Registration for the fall 2017 edition of the High Point Market is now open for buyers, exhibitors and other professions, the organisers have announced. Likened to ‘Fashion Week’ for home furnishings, the semi-annual furniture trade event will be held from Saturday, October 14 to Wednesday, October 18.

Online registration is available at www.highpointmarket.org/register. Visitors seeking additional information can call (336) 869-1000 or send an e-mail to [email protected].

“We have some really exciting programming lined up for October, and we’re already hearing from various exhibitors about exciting launches, debuts and grand openings, so we’re expecting a really great Market Week come October,” Tom Conley, president and CEO of the High Point Market Authority (HPMA), said in a statement. “Be sure to stay tuned over the next few weeks via our website and social media!”

Approximately 80 Canadian furniture and furnishings resources exhibit at the High Point Market, which is usually held in April and October each year. They comprise the largest contingent of exhibitors from outside of the United States participating in the event.

In all, the HPMA said the event hosts some 2,000 exhibitors who occupy some 11.5 million square feet of display space across some 180 buildings scattered throughout this city located in central North Carolina. The organisers believe it’s the largest furniture trade industry event the world, attracting more than 75,000 visitors every six months.

ANCASTER, Ontario – High impact promoter Lastman’s Bad Bay has opened its tenth and, at 32,000 square feet, largest store in the Meadowlands Mall, located here in this suburb of Hamilton.

Samantha Lastman, LBB director of business development (and daughter of chief executive officer Blayne Lastman), also described it as “our nicest store to date.”

“Bad Boy has wanted to open in Ancaster for a very long time,” she said, adding, “the right opportunity has finally presented itself and the timing could not be better.”

Ancaster, she pointed out, is a growing city which has enjoying considerable success economically in recent years as evidence by its growing population.

This is the third Bad Boy store to be located in a mall – the others being Whitby and Brampton. Lastman said malls often offer furniture, mattress and major appliance retail operations a number of advantages. “Landlords desire Bad Boy located to open up their malls,” she said. “To many, Bad Boy is a mini-department store. In addition, Bad Boy has placed stores in malls to capitalise on the traffic and to reach a wider audience. We situate many of our stores in prime mall locations as we believe people will often what to shop at Bad Boy alongside their regular shopping.”

This facility is also a little different from the nine others in the regional chain. “Ancaster is designed to give the optimal customer shopping experience,” she said, adding its interior uses the latest colours, co-ordinates and interior finishes, such as flooring. “It is laid out in an easy to shop fashion. The products here are of high quality and the displays are designed in such a way that the customer can really envision how it will be in their homes.”

The store will employ a staff of about 30. This will bring the company’s total employment to over 400 people.

Ancaster is the first store to be added to the Bad Boy chain since the Brampton store opened in late 2012 although refurbished stores were opened in Whitby and Mississauga in 2014 and 2013 respectively.

Lastman said that while no location has been found, the company is “aggressively looking for further growth.”

TORONTO – Marshall Mattress has announced it will return to the U.S. market after a absence of more than 20 years when it makes its debut at the summer edition of the Las Vegas Market (LVM) later this month.

Founded at the very beginning of the 20th century, the family owned-and-operated company is one of the oldest continuously operating mattress makers in North America and its founder is credited with the development of the pocket coil innerspring system.

It will be located is space 922 in building ‘B’ of the World Market Center. In a statement, the company said the time is right to re-enter the U.S. market.

“There is a lot of interest in our line,” said Eric Warner, vice president of sales and business development. “We have a number of unique features that we think will be attractive to higher-end stores.”

Marshall’s 1,900 square foot showroom will feature three collections, all new to the U.S. market. They include: the five-model Portfolio collection; the three-model Luxury line; and, the five model Bespoke collection. The opening price points for each are about $3,500 in queen while some sets in the Bespoke line go as high as $15,000.

Warner said the company’s mattresses are hand-crafted and use a host of natural and sustainable materials. Most are two-sided, and all feature a pocketed coil innerspring unit which was patented by company founder James Marshall in Canada in 1900 and in both the U.S. and the U.K. the following year.

Unlike many of the pocketed coil innerspring units currently offered to U.S. retailers, Marshall Mattress doesn’t use foam encasing for its coil systems because it believes its design does a better job of keeping the sleeper cool.

“Consumers are willing to invest in quality,” he said. “Not everyone is interested in buying something they will have to replace in three or four years.”

The summer 2017 edition of the Las Vegas Market will open for its usual five-day run on July 30.