by HIGH POINT — As first reported by Home News Now, Soundstage USA, a supplier of furniture that incorporates high-definition sound, debuted 12 new collections that all feature fourth-generation, all-digital, high-definition sound at the recent market here.
In that article, Joseph Savovic, who founded the company in 2017, confirmed that buyers would see four new sofas, seven new sectionals, new recliners and lift chairs from Cambodia, Vietnam and China.
Home News Now circled back with Savovic this week to see what kind of market the company had and how the company’s new products resonated with buyers who shopped here last month.
“The market for us was good concerning the number and quality of the buyers who came to our showroom,” Savovic said, adding, “Everyone liked what we were doing, and we sold every customer who came in.”
When asked about attendance at this market compared to the previous one, Savovic said, “Honestly, it could have been better and I sensed that attendance was significantly lower this time.”
Savovic pegged part of the company’s success in the market to what he sees as a growing awareness of technology coming to furniture products in the marketplace, sound and, in particular, the upholstery segment.
However, he was quick to point out that the sharper pricing for this market’s introductions also helped the company find favor with buyers.
“Well, ahead of market we knew we had to be concentric with what’s going on in the U.S. economy and that, coupled with a strategy to move production to new areas, allowed us to bring compelling values to our customers,” he said.
As an example, Savovic said, “Where we had come in with stationary sofas at $799 to $899, we showed up with stationary sofas at $399 and those are wholesale prices. What was compelling was that our new lower-priced sofas were not in any way watered down from our earlier versions. They have superb amenities and seating characteristics,” he said.
Like other vendors, Savovic confirmed that buyers shopped and left early. “We had buyers walking in on Tuesday before market, and my sense was virtually all of the big buyers were gone by Friday,” he said.
Savovic said that while some buyers were cautiously optimistic and wanted to see how the presidential election turned out, the majority of customers shopping at Savovic’s showroom were looking for innovative products to liven up their selling floors.
When asked if he noticed anything different about this market, Savovic reported seeing more buyers from rent-to-own chains as well as having more drop-in visits from both new and existing customers this time around.
“All in all, it was a good market for us. The buyers not only liked what they saw, they bought it,” Savovic said.
I find it interesting that Mr. Savovic makes no mention of the people responsible for Soundstage’s recent success. Without the design and merchandising efforts of Michael and Howard Slavin of RHM Sourcing & Design, Inc and their partner Josh Roemmich of Creative Solutions’ factory and QC connections in Asia, none of this product would have been made available to him. I would think the author of this article would do his research and look into how a company that has floundered for 5 years all of a sudden finds success. It’s clear Mr. Savovic has done a masterful job in developing sound for upholstery but has lacked the merchandising and factory connections needed to bring the line to market successfully. This was a team effort and credit should be given to the people who made Soundstage’s recent success possible.