Furniture in a new, soft setting

Press, 21 June 1984, Page 11

Furniture in a new, soft setting

This week, the DIC is celebrating the opening of its new up-scale furniture showroom.

The store is inviting everyone to come along and see their new look in furniture display. Today, tomorrow and Saturday have been set aside as special days so the D.I.C. can show their excitement at being able to present furniture in a new, soft setting. The furniture showroom opening is one of the store’s many celebrations during its centennial year. For the last three months, DIC staff have been working to create a different image to allow the furniture to show itself. Gone is yesterday’s furni-

ture department, which they feel was just like any other. > Gone are the fluorescent lights and bare floors. Today’s furniture showroom is a new concept for the DIC. It was not a costly project in terms of finance,

but it took hours of thought and masses of creative energy to transform the old department into the desired new showroom.

As you go up the escalator, you are in a new environment.

The rugs adorning the walls beside the escalator are a hint to the atmosphere that exists above. DIC has created an oasis of furniture. They want people to feel relaxed and unhurried: they do not want them to feel they are being pushed into buying. Display has been uppermost in the store’s mind. They have taken into account quality, price and style to offer an attractive layout where people can browse in comfort — perhaps even with a feeling that they are at home. The showroom is designed to help people form an idea of what each range of furniture will look like in their home.

Lounge suites nestle in the settings that suit them

best. Complete lounge settings suggest the comfort of a home with luxurious chairs and settees surrounded by lamps, china cabinets, pot plants and, in some cases, bars with whisky and glasses are part of the display. The attention given to presenting a complete lounge look also enables the customers to buy all their requirements in one go if they wish. Even the silk pot plants by Julia Gray are for .sale.

This setting also includes dozens of quality floor rugs which blend in with the lounge furniture. DIC sees market segmentation as important. As sales promotion manager, Mr D. R. Griffith, explained: “Rather than having a traditional department we have segmentation. You can come in and buy everything for your lounge on this floor, even down to the video.

By arranging the settings and choosing the various

colours and fabrics to match, DIC believe they are helping people with the often difficult problem of co-ordinating their furniture. The Julia Gray pot plants helped soften the settings and were an ideal way to add colour to a lounge, Mr Griffith said. They sell from f 16.95 and range from small plants and flowers to large trees.

It helped the store create a soft, relaxing atmosphere and presented the customer with tasteful ideas they might find suitable for their homes. To help make the settings more like a home, notable prints have been hung on walls and columns. Mr Griffith believes the total look is important. “Every lamp on the floor glows with feeling and

light,” he says. It is now a trend in the United States to rate a store by its lighting. If the lights are soft and low the marks are high, but if the lights are harsh and bright the rating is low on the scale, Mr Griffith adds. The showroom has more than 50 spotlights and dozens of table lamps and lamps on stands, but the lighting is still soft.