Furniture for the Furry
Retailers and manufacturers are offering new options for organization and comfort.
By Jennifer Blanchard
Pet boutique customers feel the same way about their pets as most people feel about their children: Nothing is too good for their babies. So it’s no wonder that pet parents are beginning to stock their homes with furniture made especially for their furry, four-legged best friends.
“We’re sensing a trend in furniture for pets,” says Patrick McCaffery, co-partner of PetZip Group in Brea, Calif. “In response to this trend, we’re expanding our furniture category.”
In fact, manufacturers have been noticing the trend in pet furniture for a while.
“We’re a furniture company,” says Michelle Aspesi, owner of the Bella Cottage Inc. “We sell French, romantic chic furniture for humans and make it smaller for pets.”
Stylish and Functional
These days, customers expect to find pretty much anything they ever dreamed of for their pets, so retailers should respond by stocking their stores with everything imaginable.
“Ninety percent of what I see on the market are fancy beds,” McCaffery says. “We make wardrobes, high chairs, clothing racks and strollers.”
Some other furniture items on the market are storage units, crates, fancy cat trees and lofts, toy boxes and beautifully crafted doghouses.
“There are lots of decorative beds and fabric dog houses on the market,” says Lori Grey, owner of Bow-Wow House. “I make a doghouse table and a crate table with wooden tops. These items transition from doghouses to patio furniture.”
Grey says she originally designed her doghouses for customers’ gardens.
“People adorn their gardens with birdbaths, so why not a decorative doghouse?” she says. “The dog houses also look good on the patio, and are good for people with smaller houses that want something for their pet in their house that is also functional for them.”
Most pet furniture is made to look and feel like an extension of the customer’s home décor.
“My Doggie Condo is a cross between a bookcase and a storage unit with a small space at the bottom to store dog toys or to put a pillow bed for a small dog,” says Denise Hamm, owner of Alburtis, Pa.-based Zoedog Design. “It’s designed to be a nice piece of furniture for the home.”
The furniture market is growing, and manufacturers are finding ways to get involved or expand the items they already offer.
“I wanted to get into the crate market because there were only a couple being made,” Grey says. “So I designed a series of metal wire crates that were made for indoor use.”
“We’re expanding our wardrobe to a larger size,” McCaffery says. “And many customers are asking us to change the colors to more muted and earth tones to go with home décor.”
McCaffery says clients are placing more and more emphasis on style.
“It used to be a niche market, but now everyone is trying to get into it,” he says. “Customers want fashion and color choices—more pastels, more muted tones—relating to human fashion.”
Manufacturers are even going so far as to offer their clients custom-designed furniture.
“We have two variations on our Doggie Condo,” Hamm says. “One is the “Ready to Assemble,” which is the original. The other is something more luxurious. We can custom make one with a choice of height and size, and we can add a curtain, mirror, drawers, knobs, and have it painted or stained. This is more for the Paris Hilton types.”
Dogs aren’t the only ones reaping the benefits of furniture.
“My Kitty Cottages are a good place to put toys and it’s fun for the cats to hang out in them,” Grey says. “My bird houses are designed for outside use and birds will nest in them. The good thing is they don’t have to be hung, they can be placed on a terrace or other area.”
Items especially for cats include furniture pieces designed to disguise the smell of the litter box.
“Our product was designed by a housewife and her husband,” says Gladys Valencia of Harrisworks. “They had an unsightly litter box and didn’t know what to do. They looked around at many options, and then they designed our litter box cabinet.”
Your Furniture Showroom
The most important part of selling furniture in your store is displaying these items so customers have an array of products from which to choose.
“The space issue is a problem in most stores,” McCaffery says. “And it’s a major problem when displaying furniture.”
He says rule No. 1 is to get the furniture out of the back room and onto the sales floor.
“We encourage people to have at least one of each piece of furniture they offer displayed in their store,” Hamm says. “And to help our retailers save floor space, we ship directly to the customer for them, so they don’t have to stock tons of pieces; one will work just fine.”
If retailers have enough floor space, the best way to display these products is to set up a room or home setting so customers can get an idea of how it will look in their homes.
“Having a separate furniture section, if possible, also helps,” McCaffery says.
Valencia agrees.
“The best way [to display furniture] is to have a couple units in their [the retailer’s] store,” she says. “It needs to be out so people can see it.”
Jay Kirsch, co-owner of Barker Street Gourmet Dog Bakery in The Woodlands, Texas, says he displays his furniture prominently in his store.
“Our furniture is very visible, but out of the way,” he says. “People will definitely see it, but they won’t be tripping over it. I also merchandise with other items, like dog statuettes and cushions.”
Promoting furniture is important, but Kirsch says he has noticed that people come looking for the furniture, and price is usually no object.
“If they are in the market for it, they will buy it no matter what it costs,” he says.
Grey suggests having real animals hanging out in the furniture, which will show customers that their pets will probably like the item as well.
Kirsch encourages customers to have their pets try the piece out when they bring them into the store.
“If a customer sees their dog likes the [furniture] piece, they’ll buy it,” he says.
“Hamm advises retailers to draw attention to the furniture they sell in-store.
“People sometimes don’t realize the furniture is for sale,” she says. “Use signage or have a dog mannequin sitting in it or on top of it.”
If you don’t have enough space in your store to display the furniture, have lots of really good photos of each piece you sell. If possible, take pictures of the piece in a home setting. The more customers can envision the piece in their homes, the most likely they are to make a purchase.
And remember, have fun with it and be as creative as possible.
“It’s a fun business,” McCaffery says. “And the consumer responds nicely to it.”
*This article was originally published in the Oct. 2007 issue of Pet Style News
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