This week, the International Casual Furnishings Association held its annual educational conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. From what I’ve heard, the conference is a well of knowledge for casual retailers and manufacturers, and most everyone finds it a meaningful experience.
The theme of this year’s conference is Elevate. Whether that’s elevating your store, your product introductions or your outlook on the coming year — it can mean many things.
And in the spirit of that, it made me think how valuable a conference this could be for full-line retailers and manufacturers.
The casual industry is small and fairly tight-knit, meaning not only does everyone know each other, but many of them also talk regularly and are more like family than competitors.
Isn’t it time to elevate the category to its true potential and embrace these new members of the industry?
Competition is healthy and any exposure consumers get to the outdoor category is good for the industry. So why not recognize them in the industry and help teach them as well?
From what I’ve seen, manufacturers selling outdoor nationwide welcome new players into the category. But it’s a little different on the retail side.
At first, full-line retailers looked like they could be a threat to casual specialty retailers because they have access to more resources. But what appears to be happening in the industry is a filling out of the hierarchy and covering all bases.
Think of it like this: If you want low-grade, inexpensive outdoor furniture, you go to online retailers like Wayfair and Amazon. This furniture hits a specific demographic of consumers who aren’t ready to invest in their outdoor spaces.
If you want entry-level price points with possible step-ups, you go to full-line retailers. And chances are, a customer became more interested in outdoor furniture when they realized the store where they were doing their indoor shopping carried outdoor as well.
This puts the specialty retailer in a unique position of being a destination. Those who are specifically looking for outdoor come to those stores. In reality, the future of casual retail looks like it will continue to narrow until it settles in its niche.
This isn’t a bad thing, it just means those who only sell outdoor furniture have to step up their game — elevate, if you will.
And let’s not forget, there’s plenty for the casual industry to learn from the full-line side as well. These companies have scaled their businesses and though some may not be well versed in selling outdoor, they still know how to run a successful retail operation. Finding a way to bring everyone together to share ideas and success stories can benefit the entire category.
As we look to the future, embracing the entire potential of the outdoor industry — full-line players and all — is as important as elevation. And in the end, it can help lift the industry to new heights.
Is change hard? Is competition going to be fierce? Will it be worth it? The answer to all three is looking to be ‘yes.’ And this shouldn’t be frightening, it should be exciting as we begin to see what 2024 holds for the industry.
Good article.