Retailers stick with solid, neutral fabrics, but add pizzazz with accent pillows

By Judi Fulbright -- Casual Living, 1/1/2008

Casual Living's exclusive retail fabric survey gives a clear picture of the fabric scene at retail in 2007 and offers insights about what to expect in the 2008 season.

Playing into consumers' desire to have it now, off-the-floor fabric choices are out-selling their special-order counterparts by a five-to-four margin. Three-fourths of retailers expect this ratio to hold next year. That means retailers' choices of colors and patterns are even more critical to the bottom line than ever before.

Solids, in neutral colors, ring up the most sales for the most retailers on both dining groups and sling seating. Consumers go bright with accent pillows, not the big stuff. For the 2008 season, retailers' crystal balls keep the needle squarely in the neutral color ranges for both sling and cushion seating. There seems to be a bit more willingness to branch out of the neutral zone on cushioned seating, however.

The number of retailers expecting brights to be their best sellers on cushions in the upcoming season dropped to 16% from the 20% who said it was their best seller in the 2007 season. On the other hand, 22% expect deep, saturated tones will be their best seller on cushions in 2008, a jump from the 15% who said it was their best seller in 2007.

Florals and geometrics registered distant second-place finishes in terms of design. On cushions, one-fourth of retailers named florals as their best-selling design; on slings, one-fourth named geometrics their best seller.

When it comes to fiber type for cushions, acrylics are the unquestioned king of the hill. Less than half of retailers even carry cushion covers with other fibers.

Retailers are finding multiple uses for accent pillows. Used as attention grabbers, they provide "color in a sea of taupe," as one retailer put it. In addition, accent pillows can "make everything pop and allow you to show more fabric samples on everything," another retailer said.

What's selling at retail?

Off-the-floor	55%
Customer's own material	4%
Special order	41%

And next year will be about the same

Greater than 2007	22%
About the same as 2007	73%
less than 2007	5%

Cushions rule for dining groups and deep seating

2007
	53% Cushions	34% Slings	13% No difference
2006
	47% Cushions	41% Slings	12% No difference

Fabric designs, 2007

Cushions			Slings
% of retailers carrying	% of retailers naming as best seller		% of retailers naming as best seller	% of retailers carrying
87%	51%	Solids	60%	95%
77%	10%	Stripes	8%	70%
70%	26%	Florals	3%	51%
53%	11%	Geometrics	25%	72%
9%	3%	Other	4%	9%
Other includes scenes, paisleys, jacquards or textures Other includes tweeds, weaves, paisleys, jacquards or textures For the second year in a row, solids took the top spot as best seller on both cushions and slings. Geometrics continue in favor on slings while stripes are holding their own and florals are slipping. On cushions, florals hold onto the second-place spot but their dominance is fading.

More on cushion seating, 2007

	% of retailers naming as best seller	% of retailers carrying
Plain weave	46%	82%
Printed	19%	64%
Jacquard, dobby	14%	63%
Chenile, boucle	5%	42%
Faux leather, suede	2%	23%
No real difference	13%
The percentage of retailers naming plain weaves as their best-seller went from 35% to 46% from 2006 to 2007, making it the runaway hit of the season. In terms of floor space, faux leather and suedes gained at the expense of prints.

	% of retailers naming as best seller	% of retailers carrying
Acrylics	81%	83%
Polyesters	7%	44%
Olefin/polypropylene	5%	44%
Cottons or cotton blends	1%	24%
Other	0%	4%
No real difference	6%
Acrylics are the gorilla in the room when it comes to fibers for outdoor fabrics. Less than one-half of retailers even offer consumers other choices.

Accent Pillows

	% of retailers naming as best seller	% of retailers carrying
Solids	36%	79%
Florals	21%	70%
Stripes	18%	72%
Geometrics	13%	50%
Other	4%	14%
No appreciable difference	8%
Solids sold best on accent pillows.

2007		2008 projected
28%	Neutrals	27%
23%	Brights	26%
19%	Deep, saturated jewel tones	25%
14%	Primary	10%
9%	Heathered	7%
7%	Pastels	5%
Furniture colors are neutral, the pillows are bright.

For 2008

Top colors bought

based on number of mentions by retailers expecting best performance

REDD dark, burgundy

BROWNS chocolate cocoa, coffee bean, dark

GREENS forest, apple, celery, lime, mint

NEUTRALS

BLUES spa, aqua, teal

Attention-getting colors bought

based on number of mentions by retailers

GREENS

REDS rust, dark

BROWNS reddish, henna

BLUES aqua, cobalt, light, spa

LIME GREEN

ORANGES terra cotta, coral

How retailers plan to display

All over the place in every set at least four pillows each.
Color in a sea of taupe!
Displaying in pillow racks and stacking them on the shelves of baker's racks.
Coordinated with cushions on wicker.
Floral and texture tone on tone is our best movers. Large display racks and on seating pieces. Accent pillows make the difference.
Geometric pattern to add interest and give it a transitional look that could work in many spaces.
The lime is combined with blues and yellows which gives it an extra splash of color to get the customers' attention.
Makes everything pop and allows you to show more fabric samples on everything.
The [accent] color sets off the brown and the blacks. All accent pillows go on cushioned furniture.
Strong patterns are selling. Ordered specific accent pillows to go with specific sets. Price will be included in price of entire set.
Wanted to add color to our mix of neutrals. We show pillows on all of our deep seating to add a pop of color.

Neutrals continue to dominate best-selling color groups for seating

Cushions				2007
50%	4%	20%	15%	11%
Slings	84%		13%	3%

2008 projected	Colors key
48%	Neutrals
2%
16%
22%	Pastels
12%
	Bright/primary colors
72%	Deep, saturated colors/jewel tones
9%
10%
9%	Heathere

Top five color picks retailers were buying for 2008

Cushions		Slings
Best-performing colors	Attention-getter colors	Best-performing colors	Attention-getter colors
Reds - dark, burgundy	Reds - dark, burgundy	Neutrals	Reds - dark, burgundy
Greens - forest, apple, celery, lime, mint, sage	Greens	Earthtones	Lime green
	Lime green	Greens - forest, apple, celery, lime, mint, sage	Oranges
Browns - chocolate, cocoa, coffee bean, dark bronze	Oranges - terra cotta, coral		Metallics
Blues - spa, aqua, teal	Blues - spa, aqua, teal	Browns - chocolate, cocoa, coffee bean, dark bronze	Blues - spa, aqua, teal

How retailers plan to display

[Red] because it is a bold color and customers really seem to notice it. We put the color on straight, sleek-line frames.
Done in our favorite selling seating arrangement — two love seats and over-sized ottoman, with throw/pillows, and tray with tableware.
It is a rich warm color that our clients are drawn to as part of a upholstery grouping ... to inspire our clients on how to use it in their own space ... grounded with neutrals.
Need some color living chairs and seat pads. n [Display] on our best selling wicker group.
People are asking for color but don't want to revert to the old bright yellow, red and blue of the '70s and '80s by the fireplace with throws, pillows, candles, lamps, etc.

To brighten up all the brown furniture

Wanted to add color to our mix of neutrals.Contrasting fabric on club chairs and accessories

Hot colors are selling on several manufacturers

How retailers plan to display

Show as accent to earth tones and black but not too far out. Grouped with all accessories and seating to give customer the picture that we can furnish multi-level entertaining without duplication.
Display four different bright slings on one set.
I liked the look; lime sold well last year as a seating experience.
Matching umbrella, bench cushions.
Midwest is always taupe, we tried primary colors slings with white frame with a white glass table. We chose eight strong colors and did floor stacks of them with matching umbrellas for the pop factor.
[For] monochromatic upscale look. Large dining display and all accessory pieces.

To draw contemporary group

Updates the neutral/earthtone look without going too far away from neutral with matching tables and lots of accessories.

Very bright - ladies like the bright colors and so does my floor designers.

We sell mostly earth tones in sling furniture, red as strong accent colors gets the attention of the customer looking for something different. It stands out in a sea of earth tones in the sling furniture section of the showroom.

[Sling color] will be displayed with fabric place mats and accent peices

About the survey

Casual Living's exclusive fabric survey, fielded in October and November 2007, drew responses from more than 175 casual furniture retail outlets carrying either dining groups or separate seating pieces.

Casual furniture specialists made up one-half of the retailers answering the survey; the other half were a combination of hearth and patio stores, pool and patio stores, and full-line furniture stores plus a smattering of hardware/home improvement centers, garden centers and design studios that sell outdoor furniture.

About three-quarters of the responding retailers have a single store. While one-quarter of the responding retailers have annual sales of less than $1 million, the majority, 52%, have annual sales between $1 million and $5 million. About one-tenth each has sales greater than $10 million or between $5 million to $10 million.

The survey was conducted by Casual Living's research team, led by Judi Fulbright, research specialist, and assisted by Cynthia Myers, database coordinator, and Patrice Rahming, research assistant.