Forrester Research has conducted a study that shows 78 percent of furniture shoppers are researching their purchases online prior to making a decision. Often, once they've found an item of interest, their next step is to call or email either the retail location or manufacturer that has the item they are interested in purchasing. So here’s the question for retailers with a web presence: How many of those calls are your sales consultants or service reps turning into sales or dealer leads?

In 1923, Dorothy Draper founded the first interior design firm. Next week at High Point Market, her legacy will continue. Carleton Varney, an internationally renowned designer who at one time worked closely with Draper, sees a rising popularity of furniture inspired by the designs of Dorothy Draper.

In looking at trends I find it just as helpful to see what’s on its way out from the last season as what is on its way in for this next. The exciting thing about the High Point Market is the opportunity to see what trends will be impacting the consumer in the next year and a half.

Luxury is alive! There have never been more people with more means to acquire fine design. They want the best, are used to getting it, and will spend accordingly. And it’s my belief that designers deserve a far greater share of the robust market for luxury in interior design.

A lot of designers automatically dismiss the concept of niche marketing because they’re afraid of turning away business. But it’s important to understand that the design business has changed dramatically over the past decade and in particular over the past few years.

It’s a tough marketplace out there—consumer confidence is sliding, the housing market is in crisis, gas prices are up and furniture has experienced a deflation due to the influx of imports. That means you’re working harder to sell more product for the same price you were five years ago—and to top it all off, lifestyle stores are stealing a bit more of your market share every year.

“People were not designed to sit!” These were the words of my maverick ergonomics lecturer, Fred Hoyland. But you don’t have to take Fred’s word for it—just observe people as you wander around the High Point Market in the coming week. Spot someone sitting on a ledge, on a stool or a chair and you might see them waggle their legs, tilt the chair forward and backward or slump. If you were ever scolded at school for lolling in your chair, or find yourself as an adult unable to sit still in a meeting, it might not come as news to you that shiftiness often has more to do with body design than poor behavior!

Perhaps I am overstating the obvious, but I’ve been a female since the day I was born. I became a female consumer as soon as I could. For many years, I was also a trade magazine editor who covered the home furnishings industry.

The combination of being a female, a consumer and a trade magazine editor used to really come in handy. In the Spring, I would go to the High Point Market. Then I would return home and go shopping. In the Fall, I would go to High Point. Then I would go shopping. This happened year after year. Eventually I realized a pattern had emerged. At Market: Magic! I wanted to buy everything I see. At retail: Thud! Nothing rang my bell. Frankly, I was flummoxed by the contrast. “Who,” I wondered, “let the sizzle out of the balloon?”

The past seven years have not been kind to the furnishing industry and manufacturers and retailers know that to succeed you must focus on the consumer—their wants, needs, aspirations and desires. Easier said than done.

For some 60 years, Gabberts has held its position as the Twin Cities’ premier destination for exceptional interior design services and fine furnishings. But the road has not always been easy. Like others in our industry, Gabberts was not immune to the mistakes many made in trying to capture marketshare from an overly saturated market. When things got tough, Gabberts fell into the trap of competing on price and trying to be all things to everyone. It was not a successful strategy.

That all changed in 2005 when management realized that in order to reclaim Gabberts’ position as the number-one choice for the finest in design and furnishings, they had to refocus the brand. That required shutting the doors in an underperforming market and gutting the flagship store to start from scratch.

Whenever the subject of selling to the design trade comes up, I often tell High Point Market exhibitors the story of utilizing my own resources to aid a designer searching for a particular table. And whenever I talk about serving the design trade, I often begin with the statement: “There is business there.”

Working in High Point over the years, I found that, generally speaking, most factories were not set up to deal with hundreds of thousands of designers directly, so I had to create a way to serve their needs. Over time, I found there are several methods that work well for all parties involved, but the best practice of all for those interested in selling to interior designers is to have an individual on hand in your showroom to answer questions, help select product, write orders, and provide any follow up necessary.

Is the grass ever greener on the other side? My experience tells me that it depends on which side of the fence (or universe) you stand. After spending 30-plus years on the retail side of the furniture industry I decided it was time for a change. So, I accepted a new position as vice-president of merchandising and product development at England Furniture and Upholstery, a La-Z-Boy Company.

Since my recent transition from retailing to manufacturing, business associates will often ask, “What’s it like to be on the dark side?” And I think, “What do they mean?” While to many in the furniture industry manufacturing is considered “the dark side,” I find it to be the total opposite.

Perhaps they were never completely separated, but today they are certainly inextricable: Furniture is fashion.

Line, shape, color, material, proportion; these are the factors that determine our choices when we are deciding on the cut of a perfect jacket or the lines of the perfect chair. And great design inspires a following in every category of consumer products. While the fashion world has the fashionista who lives to see each season’s fresh expressions of haute couture, I know my share of “furnituristas” who spend more time waiting for a custom sofa to arrive than they do sitting on it.