All the panelists in VMSD’s Fixture Manufacturers’ Roundtable are in agreement: In this downturn, no one’s going to make it alone. Retailers are looking to manufacturers for 360-degree help in controlling product costs and maximizing their merchandising impact. And vendors are responding with a new range of support services designed to help get shoppers back through the retailers’ doors.

In a conversation with VMSD’s editorial staff held in early April, these industry players (see list of participants, below) zeroed in on what they’ve done for retailers lately, how things are shaping up for the rest of the year and the particular challenges of green fixturing. What follows are some highlights from the conversation. (Below the Q&A, see VMSD's exclusive Resource Directory of fixture manufacturers.)

From what sectors are your orders coming these days?

Robert Frackelton, Reeve Store Equipment: Some sporting goods companies are doing fairly well. We have a consumer electronics account that’s forging ahead.

Karin Pryor, Leggett & Platt: Discount is still very strong, as is the mass merchant business. The department store and specialty sectors are where we view the most fall-off.

Mark Pritchard, idX: The off-pricers should do well in this sort of economy. They’re taking advantage of some extremely good lease deals to get into upgraded locations and/or new markets. And we’re seeing significant growth in the financial sector. Financial may sound a little surprising, but whoever buys whom wants to completely rebrand.

How has the downturn changed what retailers want, and how is that affecting your business model?

Stacey Santoro, Fleetwood: Across the board, retailers have smaller staffs. In many instances, our client may be the last person standing in his or her department. So our customers are looking to us to provide the services to help them do their jobs: design support, creative energy, value engineering, more prototyping, logistics coordination, project management and/or inventory management.

Pritchard: We’ve added architectural, design, construction and installation services as part of our in-house capabilities. And we’ve found that retailers are willing to pay for them because their departments have been decimated. They simply don’t have the people to do it. These services are necessities, not extras.

Frackelton: Because of all the staff reductions on the client side, there are a lot of people in new roles who really don’t know much about fixtures. So they’re asking us to work up a list of what we think could be changed, adjusted, re-engineered. In that sense, retailers now view vendors more as consultants.

Doesn’t that put pressure on your staffing costs and operations?

Barry Rosenberg, Econoco: Sure. Retailers expect manufacturers to provide more and more services, not just supply product. As Stacey said, retailers’ staffs are smaller so they require us to do more hand-holding, so much so that I require a bigger staff to take on these functions. At the same time, margins have come down and average order sizes have come down. All that puts a big strain on an organization.

Are retailers expecting your prices to come down as well?

Robert Hardie, Triad: Retailers are more price-conscious than ever before, so that’s obviously the number one concern when they’re purchasing. But quality is still a very high priority because they don’t want to spend money on fixtures that won’t last.

How are you protecting your margins without sacrificing quality or pricing yourself out of the market?

Pritchard: The value engineers at our facilities aren’t just looking at materials; they’re looking at how the product is packed, at what size container it goes into, at what size truck is needed and whether the product can be built for less, with less.

There’s still a lot of talk about sustainability. But is that translating to product development or to orders?

Hardie: Right now it’s more about the cost of the overall fixtures and how long they can last, but sustainability will always be important. We have our internal Green Team and we continue to incorporate many lean manufacturing practices into our business.

Frackelton: We’ve pulled back on some R&D programs, but we’re going ahead with those that address sustainability issues. We’re about to go to market with a plated finish that’s similar to chrome but less damaging to the environment. Hopefully it will be a big growth area for us.

Rosenberg: Going green in the true sense is difficult in our industry. Once you get beyond wood, materials like metal, acrylic and fiberglass are not overly greenable.

Pryor: There are parts of what we do integrally that just can’t be made green. So we’ve made a lot of effort to recycle whatever we can: steel and aluminum scraps, paint powder, chrome-plating solution, wood fiber, etc. We’re looking at different packaging materials and we’ve instituted no-idle policies in our shipping yard. Sometimes, when it gets down to the actual manufacture of the fixture, cost is still the driving factor. And green solutions aren’t always the least expensive.

Pritchard: We’re still seeing tremendous activity from a green perspective. Legislation is changing in many areas, certainly on the coasts, and we’ve had to adapt our practices to support that. We’re working on lowering the VOC content in all of our fixtures. But it’s about more than creating green fixtures. How do we reduce the carbon footprint and address the concerns of hauling products to landfills after remodel programs?

Santoro: For several of our clients, green is at the forefront regardless of costs. But those clients are few and far between. More typically, clients are looking for guidance on how to achieve some type of sustainable standard in their store environment. They know they can’t do it 100 percent – but they’re willing to take baby steps.

SIDEBAR: Think Global

Are the international markets the lands of opportunity, even in the midst of this meltdown?

Stacey Santoro, Fleetwood: Interestingly, we have several U.S. clients asking us to help them go international and some European clients who’ve contacted us over the past year to help them find U.S. suppliers. We’re talking only about a handful of companies, but this could be fruitful for us for 2010.

Mark Pritchard, idX: We’re actually seeing aggressive growth internationally. We’ve done some pretty big rollouts with the brands within the department stores and opened flagships in Russia, Eastern Europe and countries new to the European Community – markets where there seems to be a lot of money. Asia’s delivering a huge increase in business for us. We’re just finishing a 400,000-square-foot facility and we believe that in 2010, 50 percent of the manufacturing in that facility will be for Asia. So Asia may be a down market, but it’s still fairly buoyant – not down to the level it is here.

For more Q&A with the roundtable panelists, click here.

SIDEBAR: Sectors with the biggest declines in fixture orders
• Specialty apparel
• Department stores
• Specialty non-apparel

Sectors that are holding their own
• Food, grocery and beverages
• Sporting goods
• Consumer electronics

The Participants

Robert Frackelton, vp, Reeve Store Equipment Co., and president, A.R.E.

Robert Hardie principal, Triad Mfg.

Mark Pritchard,executive vp, strategic business development, idX Corp.

Karin Pryor, vp, marketing, Leggett & Platt

Barry Rosenberg, ceo, Econoco

Stacey Santoro, director of new business development, Fleetwood Fixtures

RESOURCE DIRECTORY

Abstracta by Consort Display Group
www.abstracta.com
Kalamazoo, MI
800-223-7315
info@abstracta.com

Acrylic Design Associates
www.acrylicdesign.com
Minneapolis, MN
800-445-2167
info@acrylicdesign.com

A+D Architecture Design
www.aplusd.eu
Warsaw, Poland
+48-509-20-26-27
info@aplusd.pl

Adco
www.adco.ca
St. Hubert, QC
800-361-9030
info@adco.ca

ALU
www.alu.com
New York, NY
212-924-8674
aluny@alu.com

American Showroom Concepts
www.americanshowroom.com
Dallas, TX
214-631-4193
ascbilloliver@aol.com

Amuneal Mfg. Corp.
www.amuneal.com
Philadelphia, PA
800-755-9843
info@amuneal.com

Andes Classics
Sinking Spring, PA
610-370-7419
kevin@andesclassics.com

Arken S.p.A
www.arken.it
Ferentino, Italy
+39-0775-392012
info@arken.it

Arredo Design
www. arredo-design.it
Varese, Italy
+39-0332-283990
info@arredo-design.it

Arredoshop S.r.l
www.arredoshop.com
Milan, Italy
+39-02-92140064
info@arredoshop.com

Artitalia Group
www.artitalia-group.com
Montreal, QC
514-643-0114
info@artitalia-group.com

B&N Industires Inc.
www.bnind.com
Burlingame, CA
650-593-4127
mail@bnind.com

Baltimore Display
www.bdisales.com
Baltimore, MD
410-685-3393
sales@barrdisplay.com

Bernstein Display
www.bernsteindisplay.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-237-2215
solutions@bernsteindisplay.com

Bierson Corp.
www.bierson.com
Central Point, OR
541-664-7355
info@bierson.com

Blair Inc.
www.blairinc.com
Springfield, VA
703-922-0200
sales@blairinc.com

B-Matrix Group S.r.l.
www.b-matrix.it
Varese, Italy
+39-0332-648996
info@b-matrix.it

Boden Alexander
www.boden.com
Portland, OR
503-252-4728
ddunn@boden.com

Boston Retail Products
www.bostonretail.com
Medford, MA
800-225-1633
info@bostonretail.com

Caem Magrini U.K.
www.caem.net
Staffordshire, UK
+44-01782-794500
kelly@caem.co.uk

Carlson Group Inc., The
www.carlsongroupinc.com
Portland, OR
503-670-7599

Clearr Corp.
www.clearrcorp.com
Minneapolis, MN
800-548-3269
info@clearrcorp.com
 

Concept-s Ladenbau und Objektdesign GmbH
www.concept-s-design.com
Schorndorf, Germany
+49-07181-99371-0
info@concept-s-design.com

D|Fab
www.dfabdesign.com
Madison Heights, MI
800-968-9440
tcamilletti@dfabdesign.com

Displays by Jack
www.displaysbyjack.com
Fullerton, CA
714-578-9100
sales@displaysbyjack.com

Display-Service S.r.l.
www.display-service.com
Cavaso de Tomba, Italy
+39-0423-53440
sales@display-service.com

DSA|Phototech
www.lightboxes.com
Carson, CA
310-537-5000
rmata@dsaphotech.com

Ébénisterie Norclair Inc.
www.norclair.com
Boucherville, QC
450-641-1737
info@norclair.com

Econoco
www.econoco.com
Hicksville, NY
800-645-7032
info@sellutionsbyeconoco.com

EcoTek Lighting
www.ecoteklighting.com
Lake Forest, CA
800-733-6661
sales@ecoteklighting.com

EFFEBI S.p.A.
www.effebi.it
Bovezzo, Italy
+39-030-211010l
effebi@effebi.it

Elevations Inc.
www.elevations.com
South San Francisco, CA
650-588-9115
sales@elevations.com

Eventscape
www.eventscape.net
Toronto, ON
416-231-8855
info@eventscape.net

FFR-DSI Inc.
www.ffr-dsi.com
Cleveland, OH
440-505-6919
info@ffr-dsi.com

Fleetwood Fixtures
www.fleetwoodfixtures.com
Leesport, PA
610-916-9999
info@fleetwoodfixtures.com

Frank J. Martin
www.combi-ratchet.com
Lynnwood, WA
800-654-1786
info@combi-ratchet.com

Frank Mayer & Associates Inc.
www.frankmayer.com
Grafton, WI
262-377-4700
info@frankmayer.com

Fratelli Groppo
www.groppofratelli.it
Sommariva Bosco, Italy
+39-0172-54113
info@groppofratelli.it

Golden Oldies Ltd.
www.goconceptsltd.com
Flushing, NY
718-445-4400
lisac@goldenoldiesltd.com

Grand & Benedicts
www.grand-benedicts.com
Portland, OR
800-547-7005
nickm@grand-benedicts.com

Greneker Solutions
www.greneker.com
Los Angeles, CA
323-263-9000
info@greneker.com

Grottini S.r.l.
www.grottini.com
Macerata, Italy
+39-071-7591707
info@grottini.com

Hamilton Fixture
www.hamiltonfixture.com
Hamilton, OH
513-874-2016
inquiries@hamiltonfixture.com

Harbor Industries Inc.
www.harborind.com
Grand Haven, MI
616-842-5330
info@harborind.com

Holiday Foliage Inc.
www.holidayfoliage.com
San Diego, CA
619-661-9094
info@holidayfoliage.com

idX Corp.
www.idxcorporation.com
St. Louis, MO
314-739-4120
lin.courtois@idxcorporation.com

Impressions Marketing Group
www.impressionsmkt.com
Lorton, VA
703-550-2211
makeithappen@impressionsmkt.com

Intrapresa S.r.l.
www.intrapresa.it
Pisa, Italy
+39-050-779090
intrapresa@intrapresa.it

Joseph Sarino
www.josephsarino.vpweb.ca
Markham, ON
905-471-4179
joesa@sympatico.ca

Joslin Displays Inc.
www.joslinedisplays.net
Wilmington, MA
800-325-1030
sales@joslindisplays.com

JP Metal America Inc.
www.jpmetalamerica.com
Montreal, QC
514-648-1042
anne@jpmetalamerica.com

Kraemer Woodcraft Ltd.
www.kraemerwoodcraft.com
St. Jacobs, ON
519-664-2221
info@kraemerwoodcraft.com

Kenstan Lock
www.kenstan.com
Plainview, NY
516-576-9090
dallen@kenstan.com

Landis Displays Inc.
Downingtown, PA
610-873-8864
landisplay@aol.com

Laurel Mfg.
www.laurelmfg.com
Delanco, NJ
856-461-6600
tsell@laurelmfg.com

Lawrence Metal Products Inc.
www.lawrencemetal.com
Bay Shore, NY
800-441-0019
sales@lawrencemetal.com

Leggett & Platt Store Fixtures Group
www.leggettsfg.com
Chicago, IL
847-327-6253
karin.pryor@leggett.com

Lideimmagine
www.lideimmagine.com
Arzignano, Italy
+39-0444-451044
info@lideimmagine.com

Logika
www.logikastore.it
Pesaro, Italy
+39-0721-405556
info@logikastore.it

M. Lavine Design Workshop
www.mlavine.com
Waite Park, MN
320-230-6650
info@mlavine.com

Madix Store Fixtures
www.madixinc.com
Terrell, TX
800-776-2349
jclontz@madixinc.com

Marlite
www.marlite.com
Dover, OH
330-343-6621
info@marlite.com

McCue Corp.
www.mccuecorp.com
Salem, MA
800-800-8503
esales@mccuecorp.com

MC
www.mc-collections.com
New York, NY
212-337-9580
jmaharg@mc-collections.com

MG Concepts
www.mgconcepts.com
Central Islip, NY
631-348-1772
sales@mgconcepts.com

The Miller Group, Multiplex Division
www.multiplexdisplays.com
Dupo, IL
800-325-3350
info@miller-group.com

Merchandising Frontiers Inc.
www.mfi4u.com
Winterset, IA
515-462-4965
sales@mfi4u.com

Nashville Display
www.nashvilledisplay.com
Lebanon, TN
800-251-1150
dissales@nashvillewire.com

National Hanger Co. Inc.
www.nationalhanger.com
N. Bennington, VT
800-426-4377
erice@nahanco.com

Nu Look Metal
www.nulookmetal.com
Oshawa, ON
800-958-5834
philip@nulookmetal.com

Octanorm USA Inc.
www.octanormusa.com
Lithia Springs, GA
800-995-2995
info@octanormusa.com

Ocean Works Inc.
www.oceanworks.us
Pembroke, MA
781-293-4795
info@oceanworks.us

Opto Intl. Inc.
www.optosystem.com
Wheeling, IL
847-541-6786
sales@optosystem.com

Panel Processing Inc.
www.panel.com
Alpena, MI
800-433-7142
sales@panel.com

Patina-V
www.patinav.com
City of Industry, CA
626-961-2471
info@patinav.com

Paxton S.r.L.
www.paxton.it
Guardamiglio, Italy
+39-077-51209
info@paxton.it

Premier Store Fixtures
www.premierfixtures.com
Brentwood, NY
631-236-4100
info@premierfixtures.com

Pro Image Installers
www.proimageinstallers.com
Navarre, FL
850-936-5027
info@proimageinstallers.com

Radiant Products
www.radiantproducts.com
St. Louis, MO
636-225-3555
kmueller@radiantproducts.com

Reeve Store Equipment Co.
www.reeveco.com
Pico Rivera, CA
562-949-2535
info@reeveco.com

Retail Fulfillment Innovations LLC
www.retailfi.com
Dublin, OH
800-227-1380
orlando@retailfi.com

Robelan
www.robelan.net
Hempstead, NY
516-564-8600
rabatemarco@robelan.net

Rose Displays
www.rosedisplays.com
Salem, MA
800-631-9707
signware@rosedisplays.com

Ruth Susser Designs
www.susserdesigns.com
Hollywood, CA
323-851-5100
info@susserdesigns.com

Sajo
www.sajo.com
Ville Mt. Royal, QC
877-901-7256
rocco@sajo.com

SEPA Group S.r.l.
www.sepa-group.com
Poirino, Italy
+39-011-9453374
info@sepa-group.com

Showbest Fixture Corp.
www.showbest.com
Henrico, VA
804-222-7220
info@showbest.com

Silvestri California
www.silvestricalifornia.com
Los Angeles, CA
800-647-8873
info@silvestricalifornia.com

Skyline Retail Environments
www.skyline-retail.com
Eagan, MN
651-695-7550
info@skyline-retail.com

Southern Imperial Inc.
www.southernimperial.com
Rockford, IL
800-747-4665
tvaliulis@southernimperial.com

Stylmark Inc.
www.stylmark.com
Minneapolis, MN
800-328-2495
info@stylmark.com

Testrite Visual
www.testrite.com
Hackensack, NJ
888-873-2735
info@testrite.com

The Nu-Era Group
www.thenueragroup.com
St. Louis, MO
314-231-3662
national.accounts@thenueragroup.com

Triad Mfg. Inc.
www.triadmfg.com
St. Louis, MO
314-381-5280
tbentley@triadmfg.com

Trimco Display
www.trimco-display.com
Carteret, NJ
732-969-8000
info@trimco-display.com

Trion Industries, Inc.
www.triononline.com
Wilkes-Barre, PA
800-824-1000
info@triononline.com

Umdasch Shop Concept
www.umdasch-
shop-concept.com
Amstetten, Austria
+43074-72-6050
usca@umdasch.com

Vira Manufacturing Inc.
www.viranet.com
Perth Amboy, NJ
800-305-8472
sales@viranet.com

Wm. Prager Ltd.
www.wmprager.com
Toronto, ON
800-498-4177
info@wmprager.com