 Category Close-Up - April 2010  |
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Romancing The Home Top suppliers explore the seductive beauty of lace and embroidery, and define what sells best
hy is it that hot tea served in a porcelain cup always tastes better than when it’s served in a Styrofoam container? As sensory creatures, we appreciate sights and textures that change and enrich our experiences. In home textiles, products adorned with embroidery or lace serve the same functions as their non-embellished counterparts, but often are embraced by purchasers because the added beauty strikes emotional chords. Embroidered and lace-trimmed goods do more than decorate the home, they “romance” it, the elegance perhaps satisfying feelings of aspiration to a finer lifestyle or generating a mood of serenity as they remind owners of the beauty in life. Loving Lace Vilma Wiesenmaier owns VP Designs, which specializes in creating products that incorporate fine laces from France and Italy. She believes that to those who love it, lace is more than a textile. “Growing up in Czechoslovakia, on Sundays my family and I would tour the castles and I’d see all the beautiful things royalty enjoyed,” says Wiesenmaier. “So my appreciation for lace has always been there. When asked if the audience for purchasing lace products is increasing, she answers by comparing lace to a classic pearl necklace. “It’s a question of consumer sensibility and education. The tradition of quality and beauty is always there,” she says. With the beginning of economic recovery, are consumers ready to spend money on this beauty? “Necessities have become a larger share of the average household budget—to the exclusion of many of the ‘frills’,” he says. “As a result, Heritage, a fully integrated U.S. manufacturer and marketer, has chosen to focus on what we do best: offer innovative and affordable products with utility, quality and value, made in America for American tastes. “This year we cost-engineered several projects, the most recent being our Pellora Linens table textiles,” he says. Pellora prices were lowered in early 2010 with a second decrease in consideration for later in the year. “The market realized that there is a demand for low-cost items as well as for higher quality products. The latter are more in demand by high-end brand stores, specialty shops and gift shops with good assortment,” she says. “However, consumers are deciding more and more in favor of quality lace items by not seeing them as textiles. Lace items, in general, have been qualified as textiles, but there are huge differences in making them,” says Abate, noting that Plauen embroidered lace requires eight complex steps to create. “The making of embroidered lace is the most extensive procedure, which results in the unique design,” Abate says. “Most consumers are not aware of the procedure of the high-end lace making compared to lesser quality products.” It is Abate’s hope that retailers can help educate customers on what makes fine lace worth the price. Though there is demand for a variety of lace styles, the tastes of the times seem to favor traditional. “There has always been a strong traditional element in the marketplace—a quiet segment that is often overlooked in today’s mainstream market by both manufacturers and retailers,” De Cook notes. “We have found success by introducing or re-introducing these and other customers to Heritage Lace. This traditional market is still strong enough to be the backbone of our company’s business.” “Today, we sell about 50 percent traditional, 35 percent modern and 15 percent contemporary compared to the 60 percent share of contemporary and 5 percent modern two years ago,” says Abate. Best-Selling Categories
Tabletop items sold at Neiman Marcus do well for VP Designs. Bedroom accessories, such as throws, and monogrammed towels are also best sellers. “We are always thinking of new ways to use and present lace to make life a more lovely experience,” says Wiesenmaier, who recently introduced serving trays that incorporate lace under glass. “With 52 percent of overall sales, window treatments are, increasingly, our top-selling product category,” says Heritage Lace’s De Cook. “We attribute the steady increase to the general lackluster availability of beautiful treatments among mass-market retailers. As a result, the independent retailers—our primary market—have reaped the benefit.” Wiesenmaier is hopeful that younger generations will embrace lace goods. “You don’t have to buy it all, but buy good quality,” she says. “It’s difficult for some younger generation consumers because fine lace takes care. You can’t just throw it in the washing machine and dryer.” Appeal for the Affluent Though laces and embroidered goods range in quality, making some form of them affordable for many consumers, there remains that stratosphere of the affluent who can afford the best. Sferra offers an heirloom quality sheet set with insets of handmade Italian Burano lace as well as a range of embroidered luxury home textiles. Asked what the consumers are like who buy heavily embroidered or very expensive linens, Sferra’s president, Paul Hooker, says, “From what I’ve learned from the store owners, she tends to be one of two clients. One is old money and generally a late-age Boomer, who grew up with the finest and finds it right not only to have, but enjoys using it as well. It’s part of her daily being. She’s not attracted by the limited availability; she just yearns for the traditions she’s enjoyed her entire life. “The younger Boomer tends to be new money, but swings in society that loves to show off the opulent,” Hooker says. “Lace and embroidery tend not to be just everyday and this lady likes that and wants others to know that she has it. The more exclusive and harder to get, the more she wants it.” The Art of Embroidery When it comes to a high-quality embroidered items, Leigh Chandler, owner, Papillon Linens, says, “Consumers buy it to keep for a long time because it’s quality. My goods are made in the U.S. and are not the most expensive, but they have good value.” Though her business through retailers slowed during the recession, her client base of interior designers has increased. “Stores aren’t stocking like they used to, so I do more with designers and more custom work,” she says. Anna Wallace, director of sales, Anali Exquisite Needlework, says, “Our customer buys our product for the appreciation of the quality and artwork. Some may also like that we make and embroider our linens in the U.S.,” Wallace says. “We have taken the time to come up with a look that is our own and our consumers buy our linens because of that reason. They get what they pay for.” “Embroideries are stronger for us now than they were five years ago,” says Jeff Kaufman, president and coo, Avanti Linens. “They are more functional-—they wash better—than traditional embellished-trim towels. They also offer more design flexibility. We can create almost any design with embroidery.” At Avanti, the most popular embroidered motifs on towels are florals, geometrics, scrolls and crests. Embroidery that Sells “As far as volume, our linen guest towels are definitely our best seller and what many people know us for,” says Anali’s Wallace. Avanti’s monogrammed towel program has been very successful. “We offer two fonts in a total of 10 color combinations,” says Kaufman. “Our most popular typeface has a block-type contemporary feel.” Monogrammed duvets and decorative shams do well for Papillon. The company has been producing machine-embroidered items, but now also is working with hand embroiderers. In a fast-paced society recovering from economic trauma, skillful representations of Old World traditions, such as lace and embroidery, may be the elegant, comforting touches consumers are seeking. Resources • Anali Exquisite Needlework, 888-550-8597, anali.com |
