Domestically, near-explosive growth in the numbers of specialty children's furniture and accessories retailers mirrors the pace being set at the suppliers' level. In many ways this market is a doppleganger for the adult world of furniture. For example, children's furniture stores often have the same accent on accessories and room vignette displays as their adult counterparts. This offers information and guidelines for parents on selecting furniture for their children. People who have their first child relatively late in life have the desire and financial resources to take advantage of the growing range of products, she adds.
Function is central to the list of tips, but so are personal style and a child's self-expression.
Indeed, there is an almost endless variety of products available. If there is a trend it is that there is a total range of products from novelty juvenile all the way up to toned down and sophisticated. Their top questions, underlined by about a quarter of the respondents, centred on how important children's furniture might be on their youngster's development, the importance of the type of furniture and the age at which children might benefit from having new furniture. With an eye to the category's potential, a number of manufacturers are expanding into existing youth's or children's lines or starting from scratch. Many showed new lines or prototypes at the International Home Furnishings Market in High Point last October.