Business Update: Alternative offerings, distinctive workmanship fuel wall decor

Wall decor sales continue to grow, confirming the optimism expressed by vendors earlier this year at the winter markets.

"Sales are stronger than in 2006, and 2006 was a huge year for us," said Tony Gareri, vice president of sales and marketing at Roma Moulding.

Rob Cork, managing director of Trowbridge Gallery, reports a "massive increase" in demand, one that has been steadily building for the past couple of years. "At the April High Point Market we recorded our best-ever sales in 20 years of attending market."

Just four years after Stylecraft Home Collection introduced its wall decor line at High Point's spring 2003 market, the category now accounts for close to 20% of the company's total business. President Charlie McCaffrey said the company is "bursting at the seams" in its current location, but an August relocation of its headquarters and a new distribution center should consolidate operations and provide more room for expansion.

Credited as the driving force behind the success of multi-category producer Art Dreams Home, wall decor is moving as expected, according to president and creative director Kathleen Koszyk. "We are pleased with the success of this year's introductions, and are looking forward to the fall markets."

And at Robert M. Weiss Presents, where reverse-painted glass wall decor in the form of hanging plates, crosses, medallions, frames and wall clocks account for 40% of business, the challenge lies in filling the growing number of orders. "We do a little better in volume each year," Weiss said. "But everything must be done by hand in order to maintain the quality and look, so we're held back by the difficulty of producing large quantities."

Weiss isn't worried about sacrificing quantity for quality, however, since the intense handwork also limits his competition. "We've been fortunate that the competition hasn't been all that great. There's so much going on in China right now and their (reverse-painted glass) copies are still very bad, and not very cheap." Weiss is one of several vendors who continue to find success with alternative, multi-dimensional work and unique framing treatments.

Koszyk said she sees it as the continuance of a strong trend. "Wall decor continues to evolve away from traditional matted and framed prints with an emphasis on texture and dimensionality, but the common success factor is dramatic, compelling artwork," she said. "This is what will grab the customer's attention. This is what will bring them back."

Many of Koszyk's plaques, paintings, mirrors and sculptures invite further customization through grouping and layering, thereby offering different display options to appease selective tastes and complement Art Dreams' other products. "And by building around complete collections," she added, "we're able to coordinate the various accessories around a central visual theme."

McCaffrey, discussing Stylecraft's fast-growing alternative wall decor category, also noted a growing interest in grouped collections as well as large "over-sofa" pieces. "Alternative wall decor is more than metal; we're using a lot of mixed media and looking at even more options for the future, which is the main reason we need room to expand," McCaffrey said.

Stylecraft's new headquarters and distribution center in Southhaven, Miss., will increase square footage by a third and consolidate the current nine-building operation under one roof. It also promises to provide some growing room for wall decor general manager Tom Pruett.

"We're going to introduce some outdoor finishes — more grilles, scrolls — and have plans to step up the upper end of the alternative wall decor category," Pruett said. "No one specific material dominates, but obtaining the finishes we want on certain metals like copper, for example, makes it more upper end for us."

McCaffrey and Pruett estimate the competition to be about a year behind on the production and price points of comparable items. "We don't manufacture portable lighting or accessories but we do some manufacturing on the art, which gives us more flexibility in the short term, and bringing it all into one warehouse means we will be able to ship everything together," Pruett said.

Roma Moulding maintains its stronghold with one-of-a-kind images, frames and moldings. Gareri said the comfort level afforded by such a strong performing collection enables him to focus on other areas of the business. "Enhancing the customer experience will be a major focal point in the second half of the year — you need to have that complete package of sales and service to ensure repeat orders and seamless transactions," he said. "We feel it is all part of the maturation process in the framing and giftware industries."

Gareri also stressed the importance of recognizing and respecting a successful product plan. "We see a lot of forces at play in the market place today, and it is more critical than ever that a company is able to stay the course on their chosen strategy," he said. "We are very comfortable that our lines of moldings, wall decor, picture frames and mirrors deliver to our customers the design, uniqueness and quality they demand."

At print publisher Trowbridge Gallery, sales are 50% up over last year's numbers for the same time period. "It is tempting to say that everything is working," said Cork. "But in particular the work of our commissioned artists and photographers is generating more sales than our traditional reproduction antique prints."

Collections and larger pieces are big sellers for Trowbridge as well. "All of the different series within our collections are made up of between six and 36 or more images. It is highly unlikely that we ever sell just one framed piece; generally clients will buy in multiples." Cork also noted a changing taste in frame styling. "Four years ago, our handmade frames were very elaborate in both the moldings and paint finishes," he said. "More recently our clients' preferences, while still for handmade and hand-finished frames, are for simpler moldings and finishes."

Trowbridge also designs and manufactures the frames for its proprietary images, and guarantees the exclusivity of its product. The individuality and distinction associated with such knowledge gives the company a competitive edge, and according to Cork, "makes us stand out from others in the field."

Cork shares Weiss' view that the high cost of hand-craftsmanship is worth the price. "Our frames are designed by us and are made in small workshops employing highly skilled craftsmen — we either own the workshops or are their only or No. 1 client which means we have complete control over what is being produced," Cork said. "While there is a huge cost to working this way, it ensures that the quality of the product we deliver is exceptional."

Despite the challenge of producing large quantities, annual volume also continues to increase for Weiss, who said he's always thinking about new categories of product where he can apply the technique he's been developing and fine-tuning since discovering it some 35 years ago in Peru. "After 20 years of business, we're still successful and in a comfortable position — doing beautiful work, selling at a fair price and keeping industry there (in Peru)."

Charlie McCaffrey

Robert M. Weiss

Kathleen Koszyk

Rob Cork

Tom Pruett