For at least a decade now, the presence of the casual category has been on the rise at High Point Market. And the most recent iteration of the show, held earlier this month, proved the expansion of outdoor at the traditionally interior furnishings market hasn’t slowed.
The High Point Market Authority, which puts on the market each spring and fall, reported that overall registrations were up for the October show, 3% higher than the April edition. And many of those attendees came to shop for outdoor furniture, kitchens and accessories.
“We decided to come to High Point Market for the first time because we could explore all the accessories here, which are amazing,” said Jodi Boer, All Seasons Living in Hudsonville, Michigan. “For the rugs and things that I really need to fill and accessorize my store, we had to come here.”
Outdoor buyers such as Boer had plenty to peruse with expanded outdoor offerings this market, including Woodard’s new showroom and Lane Venture’s expanded presence within parent company Bassett’s new showroom. The two brands celebrated the opening of the new two-story showroom in IHFC Main with a party that highlighted the space’s design, which mimics the natural transition from indoors out.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for Lane Venture and our customers,” said Schon Duke, vice president of sales and marketing, Lane Venture. “They get to see us in a different setting than when they see us in Atlanta. We’re sistered with an iconic brand here.”
Duke said being under the Bassett umbrella has been a boon for the outdoor brand, and it has allowed Lane Venture to be competitive in a way that’s particularly meaningful in today’s tariff-influenced marketplace.
“When you look at what Bassett has done for Lane Venture — it’s a big deal. They bought us a factory so that we have the domestic manufacturing story,” he said. “Domestic manufacturing is now about 50% of our overall business.”
Another boost for Lane Venture’s business has been integrating the brand into all 53 of Bassett’s standalone retail outlets. Duke said that, along with growth in the interior design category and with independent outdoor retailers, has led to significant gains this year.
“We were up 44% when you count the Bassett stores, and even without those, we’re still up 28%,” he said.
A similar story played out in the Hooker showroom, where Sunset West brought its full range of introductions that rolled out at Casual Market, along with the Margaritaville licensed line. Aliena Klaus-Squire, vice president of merchandising and brand operations for Sunset West, said they saw steady traffic in High Point, with lots of order writing.
“We’ve had an incredible response to the new product — we had a really strong response in Atlanta with a totally different type of buyer,” she said. “Here we see a lot of designers, we see a lot of the inline, bigger retail stores, and our new introductions are still very well received with those customers as well.”
Klaus-Squire said being partnered with Hooker has opened Sunset West up to a wider interior designer clientele who come to the showroom to shop for the entire home.
“Because we are under the Hooker umbrella, designers have been a great growing customer segment for us,” she said. “Wes (Stewart) founded the company with an eye towards the designer. We still design with a focus on serving the designer, but we find that it translates really well into a beautiful retail program, too.”
Outdoor with Indoor Appeal
Traditionally indoor furnishings companies continue to push into the casual category, expanding their lines to offer designers and retailers whole-home solutions.
Uttermost, which launched its casual furnishings line last year, filled its showroom with new outdoor product, including a wide range of accessories such as lighting, decor and accent pieces. Mac Cooper, president and CEO of Uttermost, said the company didn’t take entering the outdoor category lightly, and they’ve approached it similarly to how they develop their indoor brand.
“Outdoor sort of became an obsession for us — we got really excited and spent a lot of time studying the category before we ever introduced it,” he said. “It has a learning curve, but it’s been fun. And like our indoor formula, we cover the gamut — the accessories, the furniture, the lighting. We wanted to focus on all of our category strengths for outdoor.”
Uttermost plans to expand its outdoor showroom space for the April High Point Market, and Cooper said the company will roll out more products that they think fill a need in the category, particularly lighting.
“Lighting is an area that fits our core strength,” he said. “We plan to bring a lot more in the future, especially lamps and rechargeables.”
Four Hands takes a similar approach with its outdoor line, with plenty of crossover look-wise between exterior and interior pieces.
“With outdoor, we like to be really material-driven the same way we are for indoor,” said Adam Dunn, senior vice president of design at Four Hands. “So we’re bringing out really beautiful boucles and fabrics from an Italian mill that feel like a true linen.”
The company celebrated its 30th anniversary this market, and outdoor has played a major role in its recent history.
Outdoor is a growing category for Sunpan, as well, and Chief Marketing Officer Katherine Kalen said the brand has found success reinterpreting indoor designs for outdoor spaces.
“We’re actually finding a lot of success when we take some of our bestselling indoor pieces and mimicking that look for outdoor,” she said. “We’ve also recently launched other categories like decor, game tables and rugs — we’re really becoming that whole-home resource.”
Sunpan introduced several new outdoor groups this market, running the gamut from teak to fully upholstered seating. Kalen said the collections garnered strong reaction from High Point Market buyers.
“It has been successful because we have a large design community, and we have a big base of retailers, as well,” she said. “So we’re touching on all areas of the business, which is great for us.”
