At the fall edition of Casual Market Atlanta, foot traffic was noticeably slower, but many exhibitors still reported a strong show thanks to the quality of buyer appointments.
“I know traffic feels lighter than July, but my calendar is really robust,” said Mark Osborne, vice president of sales at MamaGreen. “Because if they’re here, they’re serious. And I’ll take that.”
Those buyers had two new collections to peruse at MamaGreen — Ma Belle and Bono. Ma Belle features a modular sofa system with a sleek, low-slung design in teak and aluminum topped with plush cushions. Bono pairs powder-coated aluminum frames with woven backs, most notably in a high-back rocker that adds a dose of style to the porch staple.
Bryan Echols, president of Jensen Outdoor, reported similar traffic in their showroom, with fewer walk-ins but plenty of appointments.
“Traffic overall has been down, but we’ve been swamped,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of great appointments because we put a lot of work into setting those, but the overall walk-ins have been virtually nonexistent.”
Jensen introduced several new pieces, including new ipe and woven seating in gray and brown finishes, with loveseat and swivel chair options. The company also launched a new oval extension table with a drop-down leaf so storing that extra section is never an issue.
Immersive innovations
Casual Market’s temporaries have long been a place of discovery for new and noteworthy products, and that couldn’t have been more true this show.
This year’s International Casual Furnishings Association Lilly Award for furnishings and the Lillian B. Winchester Best in Show Award winner, Pamlico Sound by Soundstage, wowed both Design Excellence judges and showgoers with its outdoor seating complete with a built-in, concert-quality sound system.
The company’s award-winning Laguna woven seating — along with its other six groups — are engineered with high-definition speakers and dual-toned subwoofers that connect wirelessly to any Bluetooth-enabled TV, tablet, computer or phone. The sound system operates via Pamlico Sound’s Super-Link technology, which allows multiple furniture pieces to pair for consistent sound.
“If somebody has this and they want to add a swivel rocker or a loveseat, they’re going to press one button and it all syncs,” said Joseph Savovic, president and CEO of Soundstage by Pamlico Sound.
Savovic said the collection was engineered not only for sound consistency from piece to piece, but also for every spot on those seats.
“Part of the engineering is we always want to have the same experience for each person that’s sitting in any of these products, particularly on sectionals,” he said. “Many of the sound systems that have shown up in the marketplace, there’s a sweet spot on one end, a sweet spot on the other end, and people in the middle suffer. Our customers get the same experience no matter where they sit because of the speaker placement.”
And while electronics inside outdoor furniture may sound risky, Savovic said Pamlico Sound’s components are completely weather-proof — standing up not only to water, but also extreme heat and cold.
“You can leave this out in the snow and rain — in any elements,” Savovic said. “If it’s in Arizona where it’d be 120 degrees on a patio or in Minnesota where it’s 40 below, this is going to work.”
Just a few booths over from Pamlico Sound, Outmore Living also offered an immersive outdoor experience with its heated seating. Outmore’s system features cushions with integrated, flexible heating elements connected to custom teak frames and powered by a detachable magnetic power bar.
Co-founder and CEO Kevin Long and co-founder and COO Alex Duncan got the idea for Outmore during 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced their families to celebrate Thanksgiving outdoors. Realizing blankets and fire pits weren’t enough to keep everyone warm, the two began working on a better solution.
“The way we design our product is that when you’re not using the heat, it just looks like beautiful outdoor furniture,” Long said. “So you’d have no idea it’s heated. And then when you want to use the heat, you take one of our battery control systems and it magnetically attaches to the front of the frame.”
The seats have five different temperature levels and warm up in less than a minute. Outmore’s battery packs and heating elements are waterproof to withstand outdoor conditions — the cushions are even machine-washable. Long said safety also was a major concern, so the heating element was designed and tested to never get hot enough to cause burns.
“With other outdoor heating products, you have to be careful about kids and an open flame or a hot propane heater,” Long said. “This is designed to be the safest outdoor heating product in the world.”
Long said the company has partnered with several hospitality clients such as the Ritz Carlton, and they came to Casual Market this year to pursue the outdoor retail channel.
“We’re in about 80 retailers today, and we’ll be in 100 by the end of the year,” he said. “Our two biggest channels are retail and hospitality, and we have different value propositions for both.”
Next week: A look at product and design trends that emerged at the fall edition of Casual Market Atlanta.
