Home Entertainment Retail Furniture Trends in the Midwest

Published: May, 05 2008

By Thomas A. Prais

Home entertainment furniture is a strong category for furniture retailers in the Midwest, according to data gathered for this year’s The Retail Experience survey. Surveyed Midwesterners spent an average of $1,243, or 10 percent more than surveyed home entertainment purchasers nationwide. Most of that gain came from consumers who spent $2,500 or more on their purchase, and who constituted 16 percent of all home entertainment consumers in the Midwest. Among all surveyed home entertainment consumers, only 12 percent spent $2,500 or more.

Midwestern consumers also were more likely to list style/design as one of the most important factors in their home entertainment purchase considerations. While 70 percent of all surveyed home entertainment consumers listed style/design, that figure stands at 82 percent among Midwesterners. Midwestern home entertainment consumers, compared to all surveyed U.S. home entertainment consumers, also put more emphasis on quality (58 percent to 50 percent) and color (31 percent to 23 percent), and less emphasis on sales (20 percent to 27 percent). And while Craftsman furniture, nationally, narrowly beat out contemporary as the most popular style for home entertainment furniture, contemporary was favored in the Midwest.

Nearly half of Midwesterners chose TV stands, about one-third bought wall units, one-sixth bought consoles and one-tenth purchased armoires.

Midwestern home entertainment consumers also are more likely than home entertainment consumers overall to make their purchase as a consequence of a life stage event, such as moving or beginning a family. Fifty-seven percent of surveyed home entertainment purchases by Midwesterners were precipitated by such life stage events, compared to 52 percent nationally. Moving was an especially important purchase driver, spurring 37 percent of all home entertainment purchases in the Midwest. Midwesterners were, however, less likely to have made a home entertainment furniture purchase as a consequence of a wedding, purchase of a second home or upon coming into some money.

Other results for Midwestern home entertainment furniture shoppers, vis-à-vis all surveyed home entertainment shoppers, showed that they are:

• Younger (22- to 34-year-olds comprised 32 percent of Midwestern home entertainment furniture purchasers, compared to 23 percent nationally).
• Slightly more likely to be Eco-Committed consumers (28 percent to 25 percent), and far more likely to report a willingness to spend more for eco-friendly furniture (32 percent to 21 percent).
• Much more likely (35 percent to 22 percent) to use catalogs as a product research source, though they are less likely to request a catalog while online.
• More likely to cite sales staff (14 percent to 9 percent) and attractive displays (15 percent to 8 percent) as a reason for buying where they did.
• More likely to “completely agree” that their furniture makes a statement about their lifestyle, that they consider buying furniture to be a major investment, and that they enjoy shopping for furniture (a difference that largely disappears if you aggregate those who “completely” and “strongly” agree).
• More likely to spend their discretionary dollars on travel/entertainment (26 percent to 19 percent), furniture (20 percent to 16 percent) and appliances (17 percent to 12 percent), and less likely to spend their discretionary dollars on remodeling (15 percent to 21 percent), automobiles (9 percent to 14 percent), apparel (9 percent to 12 percent) and kitchen and bath (2 percent to 4 percent). (More current research, however, suggests that consumers are cutting down on travel and entertainment as the economy worsens.)
• More likely to have bought their home entertainment furniture in conjunction with purchasing a new TV (51 percent to 42 percent).
• More likely (16 percent to 12 percent) to spend six or more hours online to research their purchase.
• More reliant on Consumer Reports-type Web sites (32 percent to 25 percent) and blogs (8 percent to 6 percent) when researching their purchase.
• More likely to shop at discount retail stores (27 percent to 23 percent), such as Target, and local, single-store retailers (16 percent to 13 percent).
• Less likely to shop at manufacturer-branded stores (7 percent to 11 percent) and warehouse/club stores (1 percent to 4 percent).
• Less likely (65 percent to 71 percent) to use the Internet to price shop.