Business: New Furniture for Old

On the seventh floor of Chicago’s fortress-like Furniture Mart one day last week, a grinning salesman pushed a button in the back of a sleek modern sofa.

In 18 seconds the $369 mechanical sofa whirred out into a standard-size double bed. “It does everything for you,” bragged the salesman, “except put you to sleep.”

For the record 24,000 buyers who packed Chicago for the two-week winter furniture market, the industry displayed thousands of items, from French provincial tables to $43.50 teakwood rocking stools and $350 sofas slung airily on rubber webbing instead of conventional frames. With a bold paintbrush and imaginative use of new and old materials, e.g., Fiberglas and foam rubber, grained woods and nubby fabrics, the industry had mass-produced a display of modern designs that for the first time outnumbered traditional all down the line. As the market closed, 88% of 50 manufacturers surveyed reported better sales (average increase: 42%) than at the 1955 winter market. Though most manufacturers predict price increases in 1956, buyers and sellers alike were confident that 1956 furniture sales would run 3 to 5% ahead of last year’s record-breaking retail market (about $3,750,000,000).