Lifestyle Sets Restyled Forbidden City Show

December 7, 2008  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Bedroom on December 2008 In what has become an annual tradition, Lifestyle Enterprise has scheduled its Forbidden City Furniture Show for Jan. 26–27 at its High Point showroom, but the 2009 event will be smaller and focus on bargain prices.

In the past, the event has brought as many as 600 buyers to High Point and featured giveaways of sports cars. The 2009 version will be an invitation-only event focused on 100 top accounts, and James Riddle, Lifestyle’s managing director, expects attendance of less than 200 buyers. He said bargains will make the fourth version of event “as exciting a furniture show as any account has ever seen.”

As an example, he said the company plans to bring out eight to 10 bedrooms ranging in price from $199 to $349 for five-piece sets. With sales down across the industry, Riddle said, “We have to do something to drive business, and this is what this show is all about.”

Riddle said the economy played a role in the decision to focus on an exclusive set of retailers, but said a bigger factor is the company “doesn’t have the capacity at these prices” to make the same offer to a larger set of retailers.

During the 2008 event, Lifestyle brought more than 600 buyers to High Point for a three-day event highlighted by drawings that awarded sports cars with sticker prices of more than $45,000 each to two buyers. More than 50 other High Point showrooms opened their doors to attract retailers attending Lifestyle’s event.