Adult Bedroom Retail Furniture Trends in the Mountain States

Published: April, 28 2008

By Thomas A. Prais

Survey respondents in the Mountain States (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) who bought adult bedroom furniture spent an average of $1,567, or 17 percent less than the U.S. average of $1,884. The difference is not accounted for by income disparities—the average household income of surveyed adult bedroom consumers, both nationally and in this particular region, was about $82,000. Consumers age 35-44 only represented 20 percent of all Mountain State adult bedroom furniture consumers, whereas they represented 28 percent of such consumers nationwide.

While The Retail Experience respondents in the Mountain States reflected the overall, U.S. pattern of favoring Craftsman-style adult bedroom furniture over traditional (the second most popular style in this product category), the margin was much wider: Forty-six percent of Mountain State consumers had bought Craftsman-style furniture, compared to 32 percent nationally. At the same time, transitional, which represented 13 percent of all surveyed adult bedroom purchases, accounted for only 5 percent of such purchases in the Mountain States. Traditional enjoyed 26 percent, and contemporary 18 percent, of Mountain State adult bedroom purchases.

When asked what most impacted their choice of a specific piece of adult bedroom furniture, the most popular responses from The Retail Experience survey participants were, in order, style/design, quality, value and comfort. Mountain State respondents produced the same hierarchy of responses, but with different proportions. While style/design beat quality by a 13-point margin among all survey respondents, it commanded a slim 3-point lead among Mountain State respondents.

With regards to where Mountain State consumers are purchasing their adult bedroom furniture, 37 percent of purchases were made at retail-branded furniture stores; 17 percent were made at local, single-store retailers or boutiques, 11 percent were made at discount retail stores, such as Target. Department stores such as Macy’s, warehouse/club stores, and Internet purchases each accounted for 4 percent of adult bedroom purchases.

Mountain State respondents were much more likely to have made their adult bedroom purchase in response to a major life stage event. For instance, 11 percent of Mountain State respondents had purchased adult bedroom furniture as a consequence of getting married (compared to 7 percent of all adult bedroom purchasers), and 20 percent had done so as a consequence of moving into a first home (compared to 10 percent nationally).

The outsized impact of life stage transitions as a purchase driver among Mountain staters may go a long way toward explaining why the region’s 35-44 year old set showed less adult bedroom purchase activity. According to the U.S. Census Beareau, the median age for a first marriage is about 26 years old. According to a National Association of Realtors’ report, “Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers for 2007,” the median age of first-time home buyers was 31. Sixty-eight percent of all first-time buyers were younger than 35, compared to 21 percent who fell within the 35-44 age group.

Market analysts, such as Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide Managing Director Jennifer Scott, Ph.D., have argued that such major life stage events represent a large and largely untapped opportunity for the furniture industry. If that thesis is correct generally, this data suggests it is even more true for retailers operating in the Mountain region. (For more about life stage marketing, see the Consumer Matters department in the May issue of Furniture Style magazine.)