Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 21, 1993 TAG: 9302220297
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SEEKING AN UP-TO-DATE IMAGE
MARK and Lori Richards of Manhattan are not the typical customers of Ethan Allen Inc., which since its 1932 founding has championed the traditional and the classic in home interiors: furniture lines with grandiose names like Old World Treasures, Circa 1776 and Canterbury Oak intended more for a middle-aged set.The couple had recently moved out of university housing after Richards graduated from law school.
"We didn't think Ethan Allen was the place for what we wanted," Lori Richards, a marketing representative for Word Perfect Corp., said. "But after looking in a lot of different furniture stores, we realized we couldn't beat the quality or prices."
With contemporary furniture at lower prices, Ethan Allen is indeed sporting a more down-to-earth image these days and taking aim at moderately priced retailers that have become the furniture emporiums of choice among the "thirty-something" crowd that is now settling into family life.
Barbara A. Solomon, a writer on retailing and a former furniture editor for the trade publication Home Furnishings Daily, said the new direction at the nation's second-largest furniture retailer was in keeping with the trend in retailing toward simplicity, embodied by apparel shops like Gap and The Limited.
"It's a very easy approach to buying furniture, so the customer is not intimidated by a major traditional furniture purchase," Solomon said. "They create a store environment where you feel comfortable."
At its 300 stores nationwide [Kweller's in Roanoke], Ethan Allen is shedding maple and chintz, revamping its exteriors with stone-finished walls in warm beige tones; its colonial entrances are giving way to those with columns with a Neo-Classical flair.
Its first contemporary furniture line, American Impressions, is a blending of Shaker and mission designs in solid cherry. Introduced last fall, it has become the fastest-growing new product in the history of the company.
A second contemporary line, American Dimensions, was introduced in April, and a third collection arrived in stores in January. Today, new or updated items make up 60 percent to 65 percent of the stock in stores, said M. Farooq Kathwari, chairman and president of the Danbury, Conn.-based company.
But breaking away from an established image can be tricky. Younger shoppers have been conditioned to think of Ethan Allen as their parents' kind of store - one reason the retailer began an aggressive advertising campaign last fall aimed at younger shoppers.
"They do have an image problem," said Jerry Epperson, a furniture analyst with the investment banking firm of Mann, Armistead & Epperson, said of Ethan Allen. "Because the brand name is associated with New England-style colonial furniture, they don't get credit for their other collections and the breadth of their styles."
Still, the changes have given sales a kick. After years of flat revenues, Ethan Allen's sales climbed 8 percent in the first nine months of 1992, on track to become its second consecutive year of growth. Sales grew about 6 percent last year, to $650 million.