Nichola Bell, Sales Director at Alpha Designs, reflects on a very successful January Furniture Show (JFS) as well as sharing which models were top performers.
I often wonder if people know the effort, hard work and passion that goes into exhibiting at the JFS, (never mind the expense). I imagine most of my fellow exhibitors do, but for Alpha Designs, with such a small team, it becomes our absolute world for many months!
With research starting in the middle of the year, it’s always a challenge to have a mixture of what our customers expect but also something new and exciting for them. Do you take a risk, or do you play it safe? Do you try something new, or do you stick with the old?
Well, Alpha tries to do just a little bit of everything, whilst retaining their core principles.
I’m a firm believer that we owe it to our customers to present our product in the best way possible, to try and replicate what our furniture could and should look like on the shop floors. So, we arrived at the JFS 2024 with a brand new stand, and no less than nine new ranges.
I never like to guess what the winning product of a show would be as I fear I would jinx it but early on we had a clear runner with JENSON, a fun and funky range, of smaller proportions with show wood detailing, shown in exciting on-trend colours. This remained the winner throughout the show.
We soon found that the next two winning products were CALEB and AVA. Both models share the same DNA as our current best sellers in terms of size and scale and we added a new “casual” seat interior, giving customers an obvious choice of comfort and aesthetics. CALEB features a soft and squishy feel, while AVA has a more sophisticated scroll arm shape. Both understandable, everyday models.
The show was topped off by a great champagne reception in the new central bar area where Alpha Designs were recognized by winning the ‘Best of British Award’. We are over the moon to have won this award, up against many well-known and established businesses and us, just a young and fairly new business coming out of Bilston.
With JFS over for another year, the hard works ramps up again, making sure we get these lovely products made and on the shop floors and working well for our customers.
Then, before we know it, we will be thinking about the next time we can present to our customers, which isn’t too far away. The Manchester Furniture Show 2024 is always a fun event, where the sun comes out and it’s always a great city vibe, not to mention a good night out too. It will be great to have this show back again this year and we look forward to seeing you there.
