International Home Furnishings Market, High Point, N.C., Spring 2009: Hooker Furniture, a leading resource for upper-medium-priced wood furniture and upholstery, has launched a moderately-priced, casual lifestyle brand called Envision.
 | | Envision - Lowden Square Poster Bed (1012-91650/-91666), Bed Bench (1012-91019), Three Drawer Nightstand (1012-91016), and Entertainment Armoire Base and Deck (1012-91113/-91114) |
Envision lifestyle collections by Hooker Furniture will offer bedroom, dining room, home office, entertainment and occasional furnishings in transitional styling at price points approximately 25% lower than Hooker Furniture. A dresser-mirror-queen bed-nightstand combination could hit a $1,995 retail price point.
 | | Envision - Kemperton Gathering Height Table (1004-76204), Gathering Height Chairs (1004-76450), and Curio China (1003-76906) |
"We see a great opportunity and void in the marketplace for a moderately price case goods line that offers extraordinary value," said Bruce Cohenour, senior vice president of Hooker. " We want to overwhelm with exceptional finish, styling, scale, piece selection and function," he said.
"Hooker wants to be the premier marketing venue for better to best furniture brands," Cohenour said. Along with Hooker's current stable of companies including Opus Designs youth furniture, Sam Moore custom chairs and Bradington-Young leather seating, Envision rounds out the better-to-best line up, he said.
Envision styling, scale, piece selection, function and pricing is designed to appeal to shoppers aged 24 to 44 at affordable price points for first time home owners and apartment and condominium dwellers. In comparison, the flagship Hooker brand is strongest with shoppers over 40 with household incomes of $75,000 and above, while the Opus Designs youth brand serves children and teens aged 3 to 19. "Now we can reach those aged 4 to 64 and give better-than-expected value at each level," said James Millner, vice president merchandising for Hooker's Opus Designs and Envision product lines.
Key differentiators for the Envision product line include quality, design, scale and piece selection.
Quality features include multi-step finishes, substantial hardware, finished interior drawers and English dovetail construction.
Design will run the gamut from casual transitional to urban contemporary to hip traditional, with an emphasis on fresh, original and unique looks.
Scaling will be "smart-sized" to utilize vertical space for smaller homes, condos, apartments, second bedrooms and vacation homes second bedrooms and vacation homes. For instance, a Hooker dresser would typically be 72 inches wide or more; an Envision dresser would be in the 62 to 68 inch range. Piece selection. Every bedroom will include a computer-compatible leg desk. Other key functional pieces include storage benches, entertainment consoles and chests and nightstands with pull-out shelves, outlets and USB ports for laptops, ipods and phone chargers.
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