NPD Group: key home fashions categories show growth

Home Textiles Today Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 9/16/2011 11:18:29 AM

Port Washington, N.Y. - The NPD Group said negative sales trends in the home category appear to be flattening and some large gains have been found in key areas.

According to The NPD Group's Home Textiles Consumer Tracking Service - which tracks bath, bed, window treatments, and kitchen and dining categories - all of the top five growth performers were individual/open-stock items.

Of the best five, the top two categories followed up a year of declines and exceeded sales levels of two years ago.

The top five dollar growth categories from August 2010 to July 2011 were bath towels or bath sheets; pillow cases; placemats; wash/face cloths; and decorative bed pillows

Sheet sets continue to be the largest category based on dollar sales within bedding, and the overall home textiles market, at $2.1 billion in the 12 months ended July 2011, up slightly over the previous 12 months.

In the bath segment, bath towels or bath sheets take the top spot for that category, with $1 billion in sales, a double-digit increase over last year.

Of window treatments, drapery panels/panel sets are the top seller in this segment. With $700 million in sales between August 2010 and July 2011, the segment is up double digits compared with the prior year.

And in the kitchen and dining segment, kitchen rugs represented $247 million in sales, and was the top selling category in the kitchen and dining segment, down slightly from the 12 months ended July 2010.

"When it comes to home textiles and home fashions, consumers are easing their way back into splurge spending," said Debra Mednick, executive director at The NPD Group. "Consumers are telling us that while price is still top of mind, how the product looks is also a top purchase motivator, and more important than it was a year ago. Their focus is still on the practical necessities, but they have not lost the desire for décor."