Recently visited the new Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams store in NYC…. eclectic, traditional furniture updated with contemporary ideas. See the video at www.whatsnewathome.wordpress.com.

If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to be a professional furniture buyer, get a quick glimpse. Read more at www.whatsnewathome.wordpress.com

Sales of portable lighting and lamps were $1.97B in 2008, down from $2.12B the year before, with most consumers choosing not to update their lamps unless they’d stopped working.

 Sales of wall decor were also down, but the lone bright spot was unconventional framed art, including wrought iron wall hangings, wall-shaped cube art and decorative plaques. It’s this specialty category that’s growing at the fastest rate, reflecting consumers’ desire for more unusual, personal and one-of-a-kind looks inspired by international cultures and flea markets.

While 2009 seems an ideal year to promote home furnishings that are made in America, it’s also seems a good year for retailers to promote accessories that look like they’ve come from somewhere else. Accents that look like they originate in an exotic destination provide an affordable, unique way for consumers to appreciate travel and other cultures, even if their travel budget is limited.

Growing stress, plus baby boomers’ continuing issues with back and neck pain, headaches, injuries, arthritis and repetitive strains are spurring the growth of therapeutic-style chairs that go well beyond simple massage mechanisms.

Sales of therapeutic massage chairs were $300M in 2008, up 5.3% from 2007; up 19% from $243M in 2004.

With the 2008 loss of Sharper Images and Linens ‘n Things, massage chair suppliers are now looking for new distribution channels including furniture and consumer electronics stores. Sales are expected to continue strong as new products enter the market at lower price points and styling more suitable for these stores.

With the therapeutic look of these chairs in the past, consumers typically placed them in basements rather than living rooms. But new looks are less bulky and being influenced by home theater-style massage chairs without sacrificing Shiatsu, Swedish and chiropractor features.

In late 2008, Panasonic introduced its first chair under $2,000, and Costco carried its first in-store therapeutic chair at $1388.

Despite the current economic recession, sales of wine and spirits are going strong (a crashed stock market may even be fueling the sales?).

VineExpo announced in January, 2009 that by 2010 the U.S. consumer will become the largest consumer of wine in the world.

As expected, the price of a bottle of wine in 2008 trended down after 2007, a year when luxury wines drew the fastest growth. But consumers have no plans to give up wine in 2009; instead they’re giving up wine with meals at restaurants in favor of buying a bottle at a grocery store or discount club and eating at home.

According to HomeWorldBusiness, in 2008, dollar sales of wine grew 5.8%, with imported wines down slightly. The highest areas of consumption were Oregon (up 13.7%) Washington (up 11.5%) and California (up 5.3%).

What does it means for home furnishings? Wine storage options are expected to sell well, including cellar-like options and dedicated wine storage (refrigerated and non-refrigerated) built into dining room furniture.

 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of multi-generational homes (with 3 ore more generations living under the same roof) grew 38% between 1990 and 2000. That number is expected to have grown dramatically by the 2010 census. 

The trend for a single home to house more people is an undeniable trend based on a perfect storm of current issues and events.

Kids who leave for college are increasingly coming back home to live following graduation. A university degree no longer guarantees a job, especially during the current recession. Already labeled ‘the boomerang generation’ (those born 1975—1986), this group is also prone to wanting to keep their options open. More transient and less loyal to an employer than generations past, they find freedom by living at home longer. This allows them to quit a job if they don’t like it, save money for a house or get work experience through unpaid internships.

Baby boomers themselves are getting older and with the rising costs of healthcare and now much-depleted savings accounts, they’re looking for ways to save money. As the ’sandwich generation’, many of them are caring for both aging parents and unemployed children. More boomers are considering pooling their resources and having elderly parents move in with them.

Home foreclosures are also causing many to pool resources with relatives and live together.

The trend continued on January 20th, 2009. Barack and Michelle Obama brought more than their two young daughters into their new home. Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson now lives with and assists with the family’s hectic schedule; the first grandmother to live in the White House.

The number of multi-generational households increased from 5 million in 2000 to 6.2 million in 2008, or 5.8% of all households. The AARP reports that 24% of baby boomer believe their parents or in-laws will move in with them.

The empty nest has become the crowded nest, and is raising new questions about home design. Private areas and places to be alone will be balanced with more open areas, central dining and gathering spaces and recreation areas on second floors.

What does it mean for home furnishings?

1. more second master or junior master bedrooms rather than just kids bedrooms

2. larger or expandable dining tables

3. places for privacy, including sitting and work areas in bedrooms

Check out the new Ready-to-Assemble furniture introductions that received a 2009 Housewares Design Award… click on ‘Furniture” at  www.housewaresdesignawards.com/hda/links/finalists.asp?yr=2009.

Among the winners… a folding table and chairs that’s a ginormous step up from the old metal versions (by Meco Corp)… a massage chair you might even put in your living room (by Panasonic), an uber chic RTA chair  (by Avenue Six) and a TV stand that gives you the look of a wall-mounted TV (by Whalen).

The body count continues… this time the uber hip Domino magazine. Under the umbrella of Conde Nast, Domino joins House and Garden, the first in a string of interior design magazine deaths that began in November, 2007. Other magazines to cease publication in 2008 included Home, O at Home and Cottage Living.

Domino magazine was launched four years ago and had grown to a circulation of 850,000 - respectable for a shelter magazine, but even its growing base of younger readers couldn’t save the publication.  Reasons for the Domino closing were the same as for the others… the poor economy couldn’t support the loss of advertising dollars.

It’ll be interesting to see who will pick up Domino’s readers - an eclectic group that liked the designer-name-dropping and eclectic mix-of-modern-and-traditional style that the magazine made popular.

Whether it’s the high rate of current job losses or the desire to sever ties with an unfortunate boss, consumers are looking for work-at-home solutions. Ready for some shocking stats?

The phrase ‘work at home’ is generating, on average 24 million searches per month, while the phrase ‘work from home’ is generating 13.7 million. Just as a point of reference, searches for ‘home improvement’ are around 10 million, and ‘furniture’ around 8 million. 

There’s no doubt more consumers want to, or may need to work from home. The challenge for furniture manufacturers, retailers and home builders is to understand what, exactly, that means. Do consumers want to designate a separate room to work from, or will they section off a portion of another room? work in the kitchen? in the bedroom? 

While sales of conventional filing cabinets are down, sales of portable laptops are way up. For many, big home office set-ups are less appealing than compact work areas, better access to electrical outlets for re-charging portable electronics, and a more efficient set-up of computer components.

What’s also needed is more efficient furniture that allows consumers to work anywhere in their home… whether on their sofa, in a chair, from their bed or from a small writing desk in the bedroom.

It’s not easy to know where the ‘work at home’ trend is going, but it’s hard to deny it’s a big area of interest to consumers!

An online study by Gfk Roper shows where consumers will cut spending in 2009. The study was taken between Sept 11th and Oct 10th, just after the worst economic news hit.

When asked which specific expenses they’d be cutting back on in the next six months, here’s how 2,000 Americans responded:

Dining out at restaurants - 82% 
Entertainment outside the home - 68%
Clothing for themselves - 64%
Pleasure travel and vacation - 63% 
Buying lunch - 56%
Hobbies - 48%
Major home improvements/furnishings - 47%
Subscriptions/memberships - 46%
Food shopping - 38%
Saving and investing - 25%
Cable or satellite TV - 23%
Credit-card payments - 18%

For home furnishings, the news isn’t all bad. Out of 15 mentioned expenses, home furnishings were 7th on the list. Here’s what else we learned:

* with a whopping majority of consumers not planning to dine out as much (#1 on the list), fixing up eating areas at home might be a consideration. 

* with a large number of consumers not planning to entertain outside the home (#2 on the list), entertaining at home might mean a new sofa or a few living room alterations  

* with a whopping majority of consumers not planning to give up on their cable or satellite TV bills, fixing up family and home theater rooms might be in order

Source: Advertising Age, Dec 1, 2008