Big chairs, big ideas: touting the furniture and wood products industries.

Once upon a rime, residents of Thomasville, North Carolina, had the honor of having the largest chair in the world in their midst. That was in 1922 when the city decided to pay homage to its major industry - chair producing. "It seems Thomasville had already gained a reputation as 'The Chair Town' due to the fact that products of Thomasville Chair Co. (now Thomasville Furniture Industries) were almost exclusively simple, sturdy, straight-backed chairs," said a spokeswoman for the town.

The Thomasville Chamber of Commerce has researched the history of the big chair, offering a view of a classic promotional campaign. Thomasville actually had two big chairs. The first one was erected in September 1922 at almost the same spot occupied by the one standing today. Thomasville Chair Co. made the original, using enough lumber to build 100 normal-size chairs. The project was done by three men working 10-hour shifts daily for one week. The finished chair was 13 feet 6 inches tall with a seat that measured 6 feet by 5 feet 6 inches. The seat was covered in leather. For 12 years, this chair held the "title" of world's biggest chair, until a Florida businessman built a bigger chair - a 22-foot ladderback chair - on top of his Orlando furniture store. The second largest chair was built in 1940, when a Gardner, Massachusetts, furniture manufacturer made a 16-foot chair as a tribute to Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox.

The Thomasville chair was scrapped after 15 years because of damage from the elements. But in 1948, in conjunction with the advent of the Thomasville Chamber of Commerce, a restoration program was begun. This time, the powers that be decided to build a chair that would hold up to the elements. The chair was to be made of concrete. Thomas W. Johnson, a noted furniture designer of the era, designed a replica of a Duncan Phyfe armchair. Several businesses and the Chamber supported the project. The concrete chair was painted to look like wood with a seat of striped fabric. The 12-foot base containing a "time-capsule" supported the 18-foot chair with its 10 1/2-foot wide seat. The chair was finished in 1951, but again, outsiders competed for the title of world's largest chair. In Washington, D.C., Bassett Furniture Co. built an even taller chair - 19 feet 2 inches made of Honduran mahogany, at a total weight of 4,600 pounds.

Why bother to build a huge chair in the first place? Promotion. Promotion. Promotion. From its inception, the first chair attracted the attention of the country along with loads of free publicity. "Pathe News" made a newsreel of it during its construction, which was shown in movie theaters all over the country. Evangelist Billy Sunday stood on it for a photo that made the cover of the New York Times magazine. In 1960, the future vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, sat on the big chair during a campaign stop. The chair was also mentioned in the syndicated cartoon/column, "Ripley's Believe It Or Not."

Big chairs are by no means the only way the industry gains attention. Creative, positive public relations can serve to publicize a product, educate the public, garner free publicity and benefit a worthwhile program at the same time.

Retailers reach out with creative hooks

The National Home Furnishings Association provided a look at some of the more noteworthy promotional programs used by retailers over the years. For example, Masin's, a Seattle, Washington-based high-end retail store, has four sales a year, two of which are tie-ins with charities. It is a public relations ploy, the store readily admits, but one that benefits worthy causes in the community while promoting the store's image. A recent promotional program had Masin's offering a 60-clay adopt-an-animal campaign. A minimum purchase of $500 allowed a customer to pick an animal from the Seattle Zoo's list of inhabitants and adopt that animal. Patrons were given certificates of adoption and free passes to the zoo plus entry to the Zoo Parent Family Reunion, an annual event.

For Dallas Furniture in Knoxville, Tennessee, attracting customers meant going out on the roof for a 12-day camp-out to collect food and toys for needy families at Christmas time. The inventor of the promotion, Julie Matthews, said that promotional events need not cost an "arm and leg" to be successful. Her annually-staged Christmas camp-out attracts valuable coverage from television and newspapers, plus radio. It benefits the store and it also helps people in need. In 1990 some 423 needy families benefited from the store's public relations event. It is a perfect example of "giving back" to the community, Matthews said.

Price is also not the only hook for bringing in eager buyers. One successful furniture promoter was asked for the secret of her success. She said she asks her customers what motivates them. One customer told her it would be good to buy "directly from the manufacturer," so the retailer organized a theme of factory-direct buying by stationing trucks from the manufacturer around the building. She added on-location radio tie-ins to build a sense of drama and stocked the furniture from floor to ceiling. She cautioned that retailers have to be honest in doing exactly what they promise or they risk losing credibility with the customer.

Why go to the trouble of staging events? The promotional campaign featuring direct-from-the-factory buying was well worth the $10,000 it cost because the store ended up doing two months' worth of sales in just four days.

Surrendering the "Black Book"

IKEA, the Swedish firm that has taken the United States by storm since landing on the North American continent in the '80s, knows that new marriages means new furnishings. To drum up business along with good public relations, the self-serve home furnishings retailers ran a promotion to celebrate June weddings by offering a free full/queen size quilt to any newlyweds who brought in a wedding invitation, a box of rice, and a "little black book" - signifying they were trading in the well-known symbol of singlehood. IKEA ran the promotion at six of its U.S. stores, donating the rice to local food banks. No special ads were run with the program, but the store got plenty of free publicity from the event. USA Today picked up on the story along with other newspapers and radio stations.

Mother Nature gets involved

Disaster relief was the tie-in for one Louisiana-based retailer. Kornmeyer's of Baton Rouge has a long history as a benevolent business. The 120-year-old family-owned business collected scrap aluminum and copper during World War II as part of the war effort. The store teamed up with the Salvation Army to bring relief to flood victims in Louisiana by collecting donated furniture and distributing it to those hit hard by the storms and flooding. During a 12-day period, the store provided personnel and trucks to collect furnishings and then used the same delivery trucks and people to deliver the donations, which ranged from dining-room tables to mattresses, chairs and sofas - enough to fill two huge delivery trucks. The Baton Rouge store has a history of helping with the local cancer society by delivering hospital beds to patients. It also works with the Rotary Club during the club's annual garage sale by arranging the delivery and transport of heavy items.

One store found a way to increase sales and gain notoriety by offering to rebate the price of furniture bought within a three-week period if it rained on the Fourth of July. The store, located in the state of Washington, generated considerable traffic to the store and sales during those three weeks. The store gambled on people's love of a an opportunity to get something for free. Advertising consisted of radio spots featuring the promotion plus weather reports, but the offer generated free advertising and lots of word-of-mouth publicity. Patrons also got their names listed in the newspaper. The store paid 3 percent of $60,000 to its insurance company, a figure it estimated would represent sales for the three weeks. If sales exceeded that number, an additional premium would be charged. The insurance company agreed to pay the rebates given on furniture bought in the event that it rained more than one-inch (a common occurrence in Washington state). Even though it ultimately rained less than an inch, no one was too disappointed.

New market helps environment

Pennsylvania House is thinking globally and acting locally with its promotional program "Replant Damaged and Destroyed Forests with American Forest ReLeaf." Georgia Hasse, manager of public relations and community affairs for Pennsylvania House, said the program began with the introduction of the Cascades line in February 1995, when the 65-year-old furniture manufacturer held its between-market showing for retailers at its Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, headquarters. Publicity from the company states, "The solid oak wood used to produce Cascades comes only from strictly managed timberland to ensure its natural regrowth. When you purchase Cascades furniture, 10 trees will be planted in your name. At Pennsylvania House, we believe in the future of well managed forest land, and we're proud to be able to include our customers - by name - in an effort so vital."

The Home Furnishings Council

The HFC is a separate, independent non-profit group organized by the American Furniture Manufacturers Association and the National Home Furnishings Association. Bob Nightengale, president of the HFC, said the group was founded in 1989 in Wilmington, Delaware, as a marketing organization to make it easier for consumers to decorate their homes and increase buying. The need for such an organization was based on research that showed that consumers feared making decorating purchases. "In 1970, 1.2 percent of disposable income was spent on home furnishings. By 1989, that number had fallen to 0.7 percent.

That decrease represented a loss of $22 billion a year," said Nightengale. "Our job is to boost the numbers of people spending. We think that is happening. For the first time in 10 years, the percentage of disposable income spent on home furnishings is back up to 1 percent."

Nightengale said that consumer research shows that people will shop 10 to 14 times before buying a major home furnishings purchase, visiting the same store two and three times. "Our research showed that the majority of people were non-confident buyers. They were insecure about decorating and non-trusting of the sales staff."

The HFC decided to produce a television show and home furnishings how-to guide, both called "Haven." The name is derived from market surveys that showed consumers see their homes as havens - ports in the storm. The HFC's distinctive logo - a home with a heart inside, and the slogan "Home is the where the heart is," can be seen on the council's weekly syndicated television show hosted by Joy Philbin, wife of talk-show host Regis Philbin. Nightingale said "Haven" began its second season in September 1995 and is carried by some 137 stations. Most of the advertising is done by local retailers, but Nightengale is encouraged by the fact that Pier 1 Imports, 602-store chain, has joined the show as a sponsor, adding revenues of $1 million a year. Additional revenues for the show come from some 300 retailers who advertise in local markets.

The HFC's magazine, "Haven," features decorating tips and is given away free by participating retailers. In ads for the decorating guide, Kathie Lee Gifford offers consumers a series of home furnishings tips.

Hardwood Manufacturers

The Hardwood Manufacturer's Association, located in Pittsburgh, is the "largest national trade organization devoted exclusively to advancing the interests of U.S. hardwood lumber producers." It serves more than 200 hardwood sawmills and concentration yards nationwide, accounting for roughly one-fifth of the total hardwood lumber produced in the United States.

Paul Froehlich, HMA spokesperson, said the HMA spends between $600,000 to $700,000 annually promoting the use of hardwoods in furniture, flooring, millwork and cabinetry. He said publicity campaigns result in 1,200 newspaper and magazine articles, which reach an estimated 50 million readers. Froehlich also said the HMA reaches the public by exhibiting its solid hardwood display at some 5 to 7 major U.S. home and garden shows.

"The HMA has also created Harvey Hardwood, an interactive oak tree designed specifically to inform kids about hardwoods. Harvey toured home shows across the country," said Froehlich, and is now on display at the Furniture Discovery Center in High Point, North Carolina.

PB-MDF Institute

The PB-MDF Institute was formed in 1989 by the National Particleboard Association to "broaden the base of participation in industry educational and promotional programs. Membership is open to anyone, worldwide, with an interest in the industry, including equipment manufacturers, suppliers, transporters, distributors, manufacturers, and end users, among others." The Institute's mission is to promote PB and MDF and it does so with three main methods: a public relations program, publications and videos, and a retail sales-training program.

The Institute educates the trade and consumer media about the quality and environmental advantages of engineered- wood products. It offers a variety of consumer-oriented brochures and videos explaining the manufacture of engineered wood and the many products made from it. The Institute also provides on-going training for the more than 1,000 retailers and distributors so that the sales force is knowledgeable about the advantages of products, such as furniture and cabinetry, made from engineered wood.

Wood Products Promotion Council - A Coalition

The Wood Products Promotion Council is made up of the APA - the Engineered Wood Association, Southern Forest Products Association, American Forest & Paper Association, Western Wood Products Association, National Particleboard Association and Canadian Wood Council. The WPPC coalition sponsors WoodWorks, an environmental advertising and promotion program featuring ads in trade and retail magazines, plus the production of brochures and promotion of articles and research using WoodWork's theme, namely, "the argument for using wood is growing every day."

RELATED ARTICLE: Will the Sleeping Industry Wake in Time?

In 1934, the editor of Wood Products asked that question, in response to the continual erosion of wood's markets, including to houses made of steel:

Will he wake in time to regain his high place in the world's markets? Will he wake in time to retain even the little that is available of his remaining market? Unfortunately, it cannot be said that this is another case of "viewing with alarm." The evidence is positive that the industry is losing ground rapidly and that no real effort is being made to prevent the loss.

The market for wood in the manufacture of railroad cars and auto bodies is irretrievably lost and if the industry continues to drift, interior trim and flooring will also be gone forever. The steel industry has well advanced plans to capture the small home market and several companies have already announced their objective. A magazine with national circulation publishes the notice that a Midwestern steel company is almost ready to offer the prospective small home owner a five-room house, completely furnished with the lot upon which to build, for $2,000. They plan to provide inexpensive financing so the purchase can be made in installments over a period of time.

Steel, plastics and other materials are gradually eating into the monopoly wood has had in the manufacture of furniture. Steel furniture is daily extending its field and is becoming more attractive both in design and price. Experimental work has been done in the manufacture of furniture in one piece from plastics, including cellophane.

The industry sleeps - though the instruments that are being used to take its markets could and should be applied to retain them. Research, modern production methods and equipment, aggressive advertising and sales efforts - these are the tools of modern industry. Other industries have neglected no resource of modern research in design, manufacture or sale of their products to provide utility, beauty and low price for their consumers. They have taken advantage of the wood industry's adherence to traditional design, manufacture and sales of its products and have made off with much profitable business...

Why talk of research or pure science when the industry still manufactures and assembles many of its products in almost the same way it has been done for hundreds of years?

Partial editorial from Wood Products, July 1934

RELATED ARTICLE: National Forest Products Week and Hoo-Hoo

"Dynamic progress has been made in [wood products], about which the public knows virtually nothing - and there's much more to come ... in fact, a great renaissance of wood." Thus in 1956, Wood & Wood Products, in a series of editorials, called for a national forest products promotion. The main objective was "to encourage all lumber and wood products men to tell the story of those products to their communities."

After introducing the concept, the magazine asked leaders in the forest products industries to react to the idea. The majority of those who cast a ballot agreed that it was a good idea. In the words of John Veach of Hardwood Corp. of America, "... (A)nything that will focus the attention of the public on the fact that timber is a crop and that we are growing trees in sufficient quantity for people to buy things made out of wood."

The first organization to actively respond and take a lead was the Lewiston, Idaho, Hoo-Hoo Club, which established a state Forest Products Week. Then, in 1959 at a convention in Duluth, the International Concatenated Order of the Hoo-Hoo (see sidebar) followed up by initiating development of what became National Forest Products Week. The American Forest Products Industries joined in to support the first national observances the following year, when the slogan "Wood is Wonderful" was introduced. Both the president of the United States and the prime minister of Canada declared the appropriate week in their respective countries. But the development of the program was aimed at grass-roots involvement.

During the early 1960s, National Forest Products Week took place each October. The NLMA published a "Handbook of Promotional Ideas" which included ways for keeping wood in the public eye such as:

* Public proclamations by governors and mayors;

* Local tours or open houses in wood-using factories;

* Choosing and promoting a local or state "Forest Products Week Queen;"

* Store window or library displays;

* Parades; and

* Poster contests in local schools.

A lot of money was spent and a lot of individual efforts, albeit spotty, were made. However, gradually, the national wood-promotion program was allowed to falter. The national backing went out of it. In 1965, W&WP wrote another editorial entitled "Requiem for a Heavyweight." It noted: "There were too many 'disbelievers' and freeloaders, too many who sat on their hands, too many who kept their purse strings tied too tightly. Too much attention, time, talent and money went into so-called 'top opinion-molding publications,' and too little, if any, recognition was given to the lumber and building material dealer and the industrial fabricator of products which may or may not be made of wood, depending on the whim of a designer or the way the wind blows in the marketplace."

National Forest Products Week continued until the early 1970s.

RELATED ARTICLE: Along Comes Hoo-Hoo

Six men, all associated in various ways with the lumber industry, were caught by a delayed train in the hotel of the small town of Gurdon, Arkansas, in January 1892. In conversation, they decided that a goodwill organization uniting the many different elements of the industry was needed. But they also decided that it should be fun and unconventional.

They certainly succeeded. The Concatenated Order of the Hoo-Hoo was formed. "To concatenate" means "to link together." "Hoo-Hoo" is not in the dictionary, however. Apparently, it's a term invented by Chicago timber journalist Bolling Arthur Johnson to describe an erratic tuft of hair on the otherwise well-coiffed head of a friend. The group turned a "hoo-hoo" into anything weird or unusual. Taking weirdness to heart, the organization's national leader was the "Snark of the Universe." The other eight members of the leading Supreme Nine were the Supreme Hoo-Hoo, Senior Hoo-Hoo, Scrivenoter, Bojun, Jabberwock, Custocatian, Arcanoper, and Gurdon. Their thoroughly unsuperstitious mascot was a black cat, which was commemorated on a Hoo-Hoo Monument in downtown Gurdon as early as 1909.

Not all was fun and games, however. Within a few years after its founding, the organization had turned philanthropic by donating funds to the victims of the 1900 Galveston hurricane. A permanent, and very active, charitable foundation was then started. The International Order became a major force behind National Forest Products Week.