My wife and I bought a piece of property on Cape Cod and I have spent the past four months getting it ready for summer. Lots of sanding, painting, and even some tiling and floor refinishing thrown in for good measure. Now that it’s warming up I am attacking the yard. Five yards of crushed shells for the driveway, railroad ties for the landscaping, a picnic table for the deck and a split rail fence for the frontage.

I haven’t met all the neighbors or their dogs but while I was digging the holes for the split rail posts my new neighbor Mary came by with her three "charges" as she called them. "Adding a little definition," she said. "Yes. Exactly," I said.

Mary had hit the nail on the head. My fence wasn’t designed to block passage, it was designed to define the property line without obstructing the view. Hopefully my article on the still busy futon furniture market will do the same.

Industry boundaries, and horizons, continue to shift. The past twenty years flew by for me. How about you? Futon Life, the magazine, has moved from hard copy direct mail to the internet. Consolidation, changing markets and the overall maturation of the category created a situation where the surviving producers knew the dealers, had more than enough main stream media channels to get their message out and decided a dedicated publication was no longer essential to their long term plans. The home furnishings market is a vibrant and volatile pageant with many staple categories parading together with the latest trendy designs and consumer fads. The futon sleeper had a tremendous twenty-year run, charging along and gobbling up big chunks of market share from both the day bed and traditional sofa bed. Today things have stabilized. Market forces, from the emergence of China as producer to the shrinking number of rank and file buyers and sellers have caused a shakeout of the feeble in a market where only the strong survive.

Despite all the tremors, our website (www.futonlife.com) is still going strong with over 1,000 unique visitors per day. It’s the best place to go to find out everything about futon furniture. The futon furniture industry is still alive and kicking but has downsized to just a few key manufacturers who seem to hunker down in the bad times and motor ahead in the good.

"This is a time of incredible opportunity," said Bob Naboicheck President of Gold Bond, a leading independent producer with an international reach. "The last sixty days have seen a significant sales surge for our line," he said. Naboicheck’s company has also taken on a line of frames, adopting a vertical model for the benefit of their many traditional furniture customers.

Many of the full line furniture dealers who have taken the time and made the effort to put a full futon furniture program on their floors still refuse to shop three vendors. This fact has never been lost on Big Tree’s Bob Pecoraro, who is still firmly committed to the futon furniture category. "We continue to provide our customers with value added product. Nice finishes, lots of style options. In fact, we will be showing as many as ten new styles in Vegas this summer," Pecoraro said.

Another factor that is currently adding stress throughout the global marketplace is the increases in fuel prices. This affects multiple factors like raw material costs, labor costs, manufacturing costs and distribution. For futon furniture, where pricing changes of as little as five to ten percent can break a sale, these increases are even more challenging. In the end these conditions must be viewed as opportunities, not barriers to success.

The past two years have also seen a substantial shakeout of niche producers. Robin Reid has decided to shut the doors at Omni Softgoods; Adonis Furniture (a major frame supplier) and Star Futon have all evaporated. United Sleep Products (the Simmons Futon licensee), was acquired by Park Place Corporation and may not stay in the futon business. In most cases these closures only add more negative karma to an industry with a questionable reputation in some mainstream circles.

Most of the manufacturers I spoke to agreed that the category had plateaued. "Many of the specialists have evolved or gone out of existence," said Gary Cohen, National Sales Manager for Wolf Corporation in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. "The channels have also changed and with the emergence of the klik-klac and the introduction of the $399 to $499 traditional style sleep sofa there just aren’t as many slots on the floor for futon furniture," he said.

Wolf is also going vertical with a full line of frames. It does seem that the survivors have finally come to the conclusion that one stop shopping for at least the frame and cushion works best.

John Roma of Otis Bed in Buffalo, New York spoke to the issue of raw materials still being affected by the damage done by Katrina two years ago and the ongoing challenges of compliance to the new open flame standards (FR 1633). "We’ve seen our customers looking out over the landscape and being very selective these days. And as always we spend a lot of time searching for the guys who are good retailers," he said.

Another consensus among the suppliers I spoke with was the bright prospects being presented by the .com dealers. "Everything in my line is now UPSable," said Alan Bowden of KD Frames in Albany, Georgia. Bowden manufactures a line of traditional futon frames which he drop ships for his online dealers.

"If there is one area of growth it’s the internet and catalog dealers," said Matt Sansoe, who recently started his own venture, Furniture FX.

What about the prospect of growth? During the mid to late ‘90’s futon furniture saw projectile growth. Everybody and their brother were in the futon business. The concept found its way into the mainstream consciousness via the specialty dealer who understood the product mix and then it moved, like any products, into the mass merchants. I still remember seeing my first "bed in a box" at Walmart. Little did we know then that the cheapening process had only just begun.

Today with fewer suppliers via consolidation and budding supply chains offering more opportunity for growth, some companies see the emergence of some significant new markets.

"The Mid West is solid for us," said Randy Guerts of August Lotz, in Osseo, Wisconsin. "We found, like most other suppliers, that retail was down at the beginning of the year, but as things warmed up in the spring things got better. Our traditional mission style frames are still the best sellers and with four distribution centers in Spokane, Phoenix, Toronto and Minneapolis we are looking at new markets that offer opportunities for growth," he said.

Guerts said that August Lotz hopes to introduce two new designs each year.

"Business is great for us," said Mike Gallawa of Night & Day Furniture of Vancouver, Washington. "It seems that many of the traditional futon suppliers have walked away from the specialty dealers. They (specialty dealers) are the key to our success," Gallawa said. Night & Day has also made the investment to create a new UPSable line that uses their patented quick assembly mechanism. (Almost 1,100 words into this story and this is the first time I have used the word mechanism.)

Gallawa also emphasized that N&D is committed to the category and will continue to bring new designs and products to the market. "We know that staying innovative is our key to success, no matter what the general market is doing."

Jane Arason of Arason Enterprises in Annapolis, Maryland (manufacturers of the Fu-Chest and full size ZZZ-Chest) is seeing positive signs for her specialty product. The ZZZ-Chest is a free standing, attractive space saving alternative to the Murphy or Wall bed. "We have gotten a lot of attention recently and our product is catching on with dealers who are definitely interested in our concept," she said. The company is seeing the typical channel crunch that comes with growth resulting in expanded lead times and the stress inherent in dealing with all the variables of a global marketplace. In spite of the challenges Arason added, "our line is expanding with some new styles and we are adding a hutch this year."

Over the years many companies (both suppliers and dealers) jumped on the futon category for the ride. Many of these followers saw an opportunity to cash in on an expanding trend. That is no longer true. The current cadre of suppliers are committed to the category, to quality and to innovation and believe at the end of the day the promise futon furniture makes is still appealing to the furniture buying public.