Just for Kids …

Customization and personalization have been buzzwords in home decorating for quite some time. You can choose from different arms, legs, seats, fabrics, leathers and ornamentations to design a one-of-a-kind sofa or chair, for example.

There is evidence that it is not just adults, but children who want to express their own sense of style. And children’s-furniture makers are jumping onto the customization bandwagon.

Leading the pack this season is Pulaski Furniture. The Virginia-based manufacturer has partnered with what is considered one of the most highly recognizable children’s brands: Build-A-Bear Workshop. The result is a line called Build-A-Bear Workshop Home by Pulaski, created specifically so that children can take part in designing furniture for their rooms.

“This is the first time a line was designed by kids for kids,” said Dallas George, Pulaski’s vice president of marketing. “We’re breaking down some barriers with this line. Traditionally, the paradigm in the industry is that they build it and hope you will come and buy. Our paradigm is that we don’t exist without our customers, who are smarter than we are and know what they want.”

According to a recent study by the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) in High Point, more than one-fifth of the U.S. population is under the age of 15. Those polled said their children influence their buying decisions when it comes to furnishing children’s rooms.

“It’s not surprising that parents want furnishings that ‘fit’ their family’s needs, their budget and their square footage,” said AHFA Vice President Jackie Hirschhaut. “But the degree to which this survey showed today’s youngsters expressing and asserting their own sense of style was extraordinary.”

When Build-A-Bear Workshop was founded in 1997, it was one of the first times that children had an opportunity to walk into a store and design something they could call their very own. It was such a hit that the company now operates more than 255 stores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. In the future, there will be stores in Europe, Asia and Australia as well.

Before the first piece of furniture was conceived for Pulaski’s new line, the company’s marketing, sales and product-development teams immersed themselves in the Build-A-Bear Workshop brand and culture to understand the values and expectations of the brand known by 90 percent of mothers and children in the U.S. A focus group of children and parents, facilitated by Craig Yoe, former Muppets and Nickelodeon creative director, enabled Pulaski to learn what was desired in terms of customization, personalization and functionality.

After doing its own research, hosting a special Kids Furniture Design Contest, and listening to what children and their parents nationwide think about kids’ furniture, Pulaski unveiled its line in the fall.

Besides different styles for boys and girls, the collection features a variety of customizable options such as pull-out hampers, changeable drawer fronts and pulls, picture frame mirrors, and a “beary special” place in each bureau chest for displaying a Build-A-Bear. In addition, there are decorative room organizers, including bins, bookshelves, cubbies and wall shelves to add even more storage and design flexibility to the room.

To accompany the line, Pulaski also developed these accents for a child’s bedroom: an activity table and chairs and an activity storage center table.

Children who previewed the line expressed that it was “really cool,” said George. “And the fact that they can change out the door front colors themselves … kids get it. Parents like it because of the functionality and because of how it’s constructed … the drawers come all the way out to the edge of the case piece, but the drawer glides have been tested for 75-pound weight capacity. There is integrity in the construction. It’s built to last.”

Build-A-Bear Workshop Home became available in galleries in existing home furnishings retail stores in May. Several retailers in the Northern Virginia region, including Belfort, are presenting this new collection.

During this first year of the collection’s introduction, there will be a “Fluffed, Stuffed and Furrbulous Traveling Tour” to benefit a children’s charity at selected retailers’ stores.

www.pulaskifurniture.com

– By Deena C. Bouknight
Special Sections Writer, Media General