The Lines Are Blurring.

As the home office furniture market has emerged, woodworking companies in various segments have expanded beyond their traditional niches to grab a piece of the pie.

There has been no dearth of statistics to paint a rosy picture for the home office furniture market during the last few years. Research conducted by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates Inc. says there were 16 million home-based office workers in the United States in 1996, up 33 percent from 12 million in 1991. IDC/Link projects that the number will increase to 50 million by the year 2000. Of the 1.3 million businesses started in 1996, 44% were home-based, according to a survey conducted by Yankelovich Partners Inc. (Figures were quoted in the Business Products Industry Assn.'s Industry Report magazine at the end of last year.)

The market took off in the 1980s when consumers were faced with the question of where to set the new PCs they were buying for their homes. They initially turned to the manufacturers of RTA furniture for simple, affordable and immediately deliverable computer stands -- and the RTA firms blossomed. Today, industry heavyweights Sauder Woodworking and O'Sullivan Industries report their largest sales segments are home office, at 40% and 60% respectively (see W&WP's survey of Top 25 residential furniture makers in the July 1999 issue). And Bush Industries was named a 1999 finalist in the home office category by the American Society of Furniture Designers for its Office Revolution collection.

Eventually, consumers began to branch out. Their PCs were not just being used for recreation, but also for working at home, and home office workers began looking for worksurfaces, credenzas, fax tables, bookshelves and full-scale desks beyond the original computer stand. Some also moved up the scale and began seeking a higher quality of furniture, more in keeping with their other home furnishings.

With consumers in growing numbers seeking a wider range of products, the home office market became an attractive growth opportunity for firms that had never ventured into office furniture before. Companies which previously manufactured just traditional home furniture or commercial office furniture -- and even a few cabinet companies -- broadened their focus to tap into a promising new market.

By 1999 at least 14 of the top 25 residential furniture makers in North America reported to W&WP that they were producing furniture for the home office. Similarly, five out of the top 25 contract furniture manufacturers had entered that market by 1999 (W&WP, May 1999), including Herman Miller and DM1 Furniture. Among the 25 largest cabinetmakers in 1999, 12 said they were producing cabinets for other rooms, including the home office (W&WP March 1999). They include Mill's Pride, Krafrmaid and Aristokraft.

As manufacturers in various niches vie for a spot in the home office, the challenge will be finding out what home-based workers need, want and are willing to pay for, Industry Report says. So far, "consumers are likely to know the brand name of their computer, but they probably have no idea which company made their desk or chair," says IR, quoting a 1998 Home Office Trends study conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide. Consumers' decisions about what to buy are based on price and not on a brand-name recognition, IR adds, which leaves the market wide open for even further competition in the coming century.