April high point market: Grandma's taste still goes. (Design Lines).

Furniture manufacturers are betting heavily on the pull of the past to bolster consumers' confidence and bring them, dollars in hand, to retailers' stores in upcoming months.

"People believe in their grandmothers and great-grandmothers," said Jim Kelly, executive vice president of Pulaski Furniture Corp., at the International Home Furnishings Show held in High Point April 3-9. Furniture reflecting what our ancestors bought and loved was seen most prominently at the market - sometimes classic, sometimes rough-hewn, but always bearing a glimpse of what Kelly called "simpler times."

Pulaski struck a nostalgic note with its 70-piece "Antiques Roadshow," based on the popular PBS television series of the same name. Pennsylvania House had "New Standards," consisting of 72 pieces leaning heavily on 18th and 19th century classics, but with updated touches.

Pulaski's collection is the result of an agreement between the Virginia company and the TV series' producer, Boston station WGBH. Through its license with the station, Pulaski is producing furniture that reflects elements of some of the 40,000 antiques brought to the traveling show for appraisal by viewers from throughout the country.

Each new piece of furniture carries a hang tag with a picture and story of the antique upon which it's based, and is fitted with a metal plaque linking it to the TV series. That's a little extra something for people to pass on when they hand the furniture down to heirs, said COOICFO Lawrence Webb Jr.

To make the identification stronger, Pulaski set up an Antiques Roadshow appraiser in its showroom to offer appraisals on visitors' valuables. Webb's grandfather's engraved watch was probably worth $350 to $400, she told Webb, "but to you, rm sure, a million dollars."

Pulaski will help dealers set up similar sessions to draw traffic, Webb said. "This is just the ideal way."

Century's "Sun Valley" also tells a story of the past, though not as explicitly as "Antiques Roadshow." Ed Tashjian, Century vice president of marketing, said his company had done a lot of Western European style furniture in the past, but wanted something different. Designers looked at customers' second homes in Aspen and Vail.

Wood is heavily distressed alder. Some chair backs are jaggedly carved on the edges to resemble a tree's cross-section. Native American sun motifs decorate one chest. And there is a "Bible box." Pioneers kept their precious Bibles in a box and built a piece of furniture around it, Tashjian said.

Bassett Furniture Industries went even further with the pioneer look. "American Hewn," an oak bedroom, dining and living room collection, preserves knotholes and other imperfections. Plank tables have open tenon joinery, and one table top slides up and back to reveal a seat.

Pennsylvania House used a slightly different take on history in introducing its "New Standards: The Steve Tyrell Collection." Working with jazz composer and singer Tyrell who performed in Steve Martin's "Father of the Bride" movies, the company likened the idea of updated classic designs to musical standards revisited. Tyrell performed at an April 4 concert sponsored by the company.

The company's traditional cherry is used, along with Norwegian pine, and cherry and mahogany veneers. Curves are plentiful, in serpentine and bombe styles and in a drum table and demilune entertainment armoire. Silver hardware is touched with a gold glaze, and a bed in classic Chippendale shape is painted red, then black with gold decoration before being sanded through.

Many companies emphasized the American background of their styles, even when the styles being copied were early American crafts people's interpretation of European-made furniture. That was true of the 100-piece "Charlestowne Square," Broyhill's wormy maple and cherry reproductions of 19th-century American-made furniture, inspired by Sheraton, Hepplewhite and Phyfe.

Side Trips

At the same time that many manufacturers pursued the past, they frequently took side trips in an entirely different direction, trying to lure young consumers with collections that meet the space demands of urban living. These often, but not always, are contemporary in style and lower in price than the company's other collections.

Stanley Furniture's "Urban Comfort" is a 64-piece collection that emphasizes versatility rather than small scale. "For many urban consumers, space is at a premium, so they must be creative when arranging their rooms," said Bill Sibbick, senior vice president, pointing out bookcases and writing desks that could go in a variety of rooms.

"People buy pieces; they don't buy collections anymore," observed Century's Tashjian, as he took a group of reporters on a showroom tour. in addition to the 80-piece "Sun Valley," Southwest-inspired pieces, Century also weighed in with "Kenya Expedition," a clean-lined, value-priced group.

Other Influences

There were exceptions, in European-inspired furniture and in the more contemporary designs aimed at young urbanites. Stanley Furniture's 52-piece, maple "Provincia" is rooted directly in French design. Palliser based its "Saga," part of its Generation X oriented EQ3 line, on a different kind of classic--Scandinavian furniture of the '50s and '60s.

Another bow to the young is Bernhardt's "Talesai," which means "beautiful clear ocean," one of the few examples of Asian style shown. And Drexel Heritage says the birch and cherry Gen X Transitional pieces in its dh Collection gives mail-order and catalog customers the chance "to step up to a Drexel Heritage brand."

For those even younger--children to teens--Stanley presented "Isabella," a ruffly, white-painted girls' bedroom suite. In one version, the headboard and foot-board are upholstered in removable panels of daintily figured fabric.

RTA Makes a Stand

Though home-office introductions have lagged as that market has slowed, several new pieces were shown. Stanley's traditionally styled Provincia collection includes a "Trilogy" desk that seats three people. Work surface, leg room and storage are available on three sides, with computer connections centralized in the center.

O'Sullivan Furniture continues its "digital dock" introductions. The dock puts the CPU in plain view for easy connection of peripherals such as digital cameras. In one new corner desk by O'Sullivan, the dock is to the side rather than in the center.

RTA producers O'Sullivan, Bush and Sauder are now aiming a portion of their product at furniture stores and RTA superstores rather than concentrating on home-office stores, which took a hit in the economic downturn. As some of their mass markets have become saturated, they have spread their net wider, upgrading some products and adding others.

O'Sullivan's IntelligentDesigns furniture for small offices, not necessarily home offices, is part of the push. A showroom display illustrated eight different finishes on which the company is working. O'Sullivan has also entered the kitchen cart and trolley arena, with authentic butcher block and granite tops.

Sauder, too, used butcher-block in kitchen trolleys in its white-painted Harbor View collection, which also included a kitchen armoire. For the rest of the house, Sauder introduced "hobby carts," combining work surface and storage space on wheels.

Encouraged by the reception for its recently introduced Eric Morgan line of assembled melamine furniture, Bush showed three new Eric Morgan bed-room suites and added to its previously introduced "Young Living." The "Young Living" suite takes a child "from crib to college," with choice of queensize, full or single bed and a four-drawer chest to which a diaper changing table can be attached. "Thscana," a new entertainment and storage collection, and "Beamer," a modular storage group, were also added in Eric Morgan.

Bush stocks the assembled furniture at its Erie, PA., warehouse and offers delivery within 14 days from the time it receives an order until the shipment leaves its dock. The arrangement gives small retailers quick access to European-styled products, said Beth Giordano, Mid-Atlantic regional sales manager for home furnishings.

Fewer Crowds Than Usual

Perhaps because of the war in Iraq, the market drew fewer than usual visitors; by Market Authority estimates, 11 percent fewer than the usual 70,000 to 80,000. The international contingent, usually about 10 percent of attendance, was considerably reduced, said a representative from the Market Authority. However, few people said they saw any sign of "war fear" among attendees, and several detected a positive attitude among buyers.

"We've had a wonderful turnout," said Tom Tilley, president of Pennsylvania House, a La-Z-Boy brand, "People seemed to be looking past the war. It's almost like people feel they're here to buy for 2004. They know they've got to have some fresh new product."

Uncertainty about the economy, war and SARS may all have contributed to keeping market traffic down, said Paul Toms Jr., CEO of Hooker Furniture. Nevertheless, he said, the company had a good market. "Overall, we are doing well. The company's import line has been successful while its domestically produced product has been subject to the same pressures as the rest of the U.S. industry," he added.

The general consensus by exhibitors seemed to be that companies were looking ahead to better times.

One representative summed up the strategy: "All we can do is put the best product with the best perceived value out there," he said.

RELATED ARTICLE: Made In The USA

Century Furniture's new value-priced collection, "Kenya Expedition" marks the first time predominantly high-end Century has made a value-priced collection entirely in America, of American materials.

"The public can expect more to Follow," said Vice President of Marketing Ed Tashjian. Century previously imported its value-priced goods.

Using a simple Campaign style reminiscent of British soldiers' 18th and 19th century journeys and taking advantage of economies of scale, the Hickory, NC, company's "Kenya Expedition" meets the price of Chinese-made furniture, he said. "That's about 35 percent lower than Century's standard prices," he added.

Shipping inconvenience, potential quality problems, and the limited number of SKUs in Chinese-made furniture prompted the company to find a way to make the furniture more efficiently in the United States, he said. "It turned out to be a very smart thing to do."

Each piece has a small enamel U.S. flag fastened in a drawer.

"Will the fact that the furniture is U.S.- made prompt people to buy it?" Tashjian asked a group of touring journalists rhetorically "No," he said, in answer to his own question.

"Will they buy it because it's a better value?" he asked. "Absolutely."

"And will the people who build it feel proud when they see that flag? Yes, because they take great pride in building it," Tashjian said, in answer to his own question.