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Editorial
By the Numbers
We’ve
been tracking the rise in shutter sales and popularity in the pages
of Draperies & Window Coverings for more than a dozen years
now. In 1992 we began a regular series of surveys asking readers,
among other things, to describe consumer interest in the product.
Back then, only 31 percent of respondents said consumer interest
in shutters was “high.” When we asked the same question
seven years later, our survey (reported in April 2000) showed interest
had jumped to where almost 80 percent of our respondents reported
“high” consumer interest. The last time we asked the
question, April 2003, we got a similar response: 76.9 percent of
respondents reported consumer interest in shutters as “high.”
It’s a good bet that interest hasn’t dropped any. Judging
by those we talk to from around the country it’s been just
the opposite. Shutters remain a hot item and the number of suppliers
and program options available to retailers bear that out. Of course,
the best way to know for sure is to ask, and this month (see page
62) we publish our biennial Reader’s Survey and do just that.
The object is to learn more than just consumer interest. We like
to hear why consumers are buying shutters, where and how they have
them installed and what finishes and materials they prefer all based
on dealer sales. We also try to find out how long retailers have
been selling shutters and what is a typical range for profit margins.
Please take a few minutes to fill out our survey and fax it in (the
survey will be available online, too!) and help us quantify this
market.
Four years ago, in November 2001, D&WC published our first Shutter
Supplement—a 24-page editorial focus on the shutter market.
In it we tapped the industry’s manufacturing experts to get
their take on shutters and where the shutter market is headed. From
the beginning we heard that shutters were a high-quality product
that comes at a price. That hasn’t changed, although today
(see this year’s Shutter Supplement beginning on page 51)
we are just as likely to hear that consumers are willing to pay
for shutters they see as adding value to their homes. In last year’s
outlook we learned that shutters represented $1 billion in sales
at retail. This year, we hear of sales increases of 20 to 30 percent,
or as we note, “No Signs of Slowing.”
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