U.S. furniture makers to measure the scale of their products in response to a small house buyers moving into an older, small houses and condominium town, a day before the opening of industrial ANALYST International Home Furnishings Market.

"They will use the oversized bed, said WW" Jerry "Epperson Jr., a utility industry ANALYST based in Richmond, Va..

He said almost all shops sell the market shows a line of machines is smaller.
More than 2,500 exhibitors from around the world show the utility's annual housing market in the spring High Point. Retail furniture buyers will land new products what is shown on all 12 million square feet of exhibition space in 188 buildings. Products can end up in the store showroom by the fall, prime time for spending on home decor. In all, 70,000 customers and others in the industry are expected to attend the furniture market, ended Wednesday.

Epperson said the downtown revitalization has forced furniture makers to offer a product line of smaller, particularly in mattresses and bedroom sets. But while the manufacturers to offer lower scale, rising prices - especially for sleeping.

"You can spend some real coin from the bed if you want," said Epperson, noting the explosion of new technologies using a foam mattress, air and now gel.

The ANALYST said he did not expect a pronounced decline in home sales - a key barometer for sales of furniture - and he adds that many other people who watch the industry has been surprised by how resilient real estate markets remain before the rising interest rates.

The mixture of new housing stock changes that can create an interesting situation, Epperson said. "We can have a wave of housing (in units) but a broader decorating," if the sale of smaller starter tilt toward the house.

He said the furniture industry comes from a mixture of the first quarter, ending the period of weak sales in March. Which came after the 3.1 percent increase in sales last year.

The increasing role of Chinese furniture delivery in U.S. $ 5 billion market is in the minds of many performances.

In an overview of the industry, Epperson said at least 20 manufacturers of Asia, especially China, with U.S. sales force to sell directly to their own U.S. retailers. Some companies build their own warehouses in the United States that would allow them to sell to independent retailers. Sofa shipping costs from China to the West Coast is $ 90, and shipping from China to the East Coast costs $ 120, Epperson said.

He said in his report that the price of furniture is never more complex. Shoppers can find a supply of leather and wood furniture, while products with steel, foam and petroleum-based materials that saw prices rise.

Epperson said the furniture retailer has been a battleground between retailers and construction companies that sell via the Internet or catalogs. In addition, more and more stores nonfurniture "is selling to the line, including Home Depot and Kroger grocery chain.

In the fight for customers, Century Furniture Industries, Hickory, NC, produces high-end equipment, upgrade the Web site to meet customer expectations, President and CEO Robert J. Maricich said. He added that 38 percent of top-class equipment ordered in the decorator who worked for the client.

Epperson said the market changes is a long-term trend, and he warned people to think that the purchase of goods on the Internet is not practical.

"They are the same people who say women do not buy clothes on the Internet," said Epperson. "They've proven dramatically wrong."