Shadow Mountain debuting Idol line

Heath Combs, Furniture/Today -- Home Accents Today, 10/1/2006

Dick Idol Ventures will release a line of home furnishings with a second furniture licensee, importer Shadow Mountain, at the October High Point Market.

The new line isn't intended to compete with the ongoing Dick Idol program at Klaussner, which is at lower price points.

Called Dick Idol Legends, the line will feature bedroom, dining, occasional, accents, lighting, top-of-bed goods, wall art, rugs and upholstery, said Bob Eller, Shadow Mountain vice president of sales and marketing.

Shadow Mountain's first licensed line, Legends will be priced slightly above the company's current upper-medium price points, Eller said. It will target smaller independent furniture retailers and specialty furniture boutiques focused on refined rustic styling and fashion-forward design.

Dick Idol Ventures, the North Carolina-based licensing group for the outdoorsman and artist, approached exclusive furniture licensee Klaussner after the spring High Point Market about allowing a Shadow Mountain line aimed at more upscale consumers.

While the Klaussner Idol collections target Top 100 stores, the agency felt Shadow Mountain could push fashion-forward designs for smaller-volume sales, said Jim Williams, chief marketing officer of Dick Idol Ventures. He said the goal is to segment the market with distinct product and marketing strategies.

Klaussner gave Idol its blessing, feeling the strategy would help broaden the overall reach of the brand.

"The thinking is this helps get the name and brand out there more and that helps everyone," Williams said.

Idol conceived the idea for Legends' introductory High Plains Collection after visiting a friend's Montana ranch and seeing the antiques he had collected. The collection will blend antiqued oak wood with hair-on-hide leather and nailhead accents.

Shadow Mountain will show in its newly expanded High Point space in Market Square, suite 392, which is triple the size of its former space in the building. At Las Vegas in January, the company will move from temporary space to the 10th floor of World Market Center Building B.

Shadow Mountain's sales force will sell the entire line of Legends products, Eller said.