| Pulaski Furniture's Latino style
Virginia Business
October 2004
The
market potential of the country’s growing Hispanic
population is prompting businesses to offer new products
that tap into the Latin influence. Virginia’s
Pulaski Furniture is preparing a new line of furniture
— Casa Christina — that bears the endorsement
of Christina Seralegui, Spanish-language television’s
No. 1 talk show host.
The licensed collection offers dining, bedroom, clocks,
entertainment and youth furnishings, all inspired by
Seralegui’s own taste and lifestyle. The company
plans to unveil it during the October International
Furniture Market in High Point, N.C., and to have it
in stores by next summer.
Jim Kelly, executive vice president for product development
and marketing for Pulaski, says the company is following
companies in the pharmaceutical, retail, automotive
and media industries, which have made entries into the
Hispanic market. Currently, the Latin market numbers
39 million nationwide (with 95,000 households in Virginia,
according to the most recent Census figures) and is
projected to grow 37 percent by 2020.
Hispanic households spent $7 billion on furniture in
2003, according to Kelly. While refusing to speculate
on potential market share, company officials are hoping
that Seralegui — whose influence includes her
daily talk show, a radio show and a monthly magazine
— will have an Oprah-like effect on Pulaski’s
bottom line.
The company also is targeting consumers in mainstream
America who have developed a penchant for the Hispanic/Latino
style. “The Hispanic population is already affecting
every aspect of the culture in this country and that
will only grow stronger in the future,” Kelly
says. “So we believe that by producing and selling
this line, we will be fulfilling a very real need in
the marketplace.”
Return to Virginia Business - October 2004
|
