New company KidzWorld specializes in licensed upholstery lines

New company KidzWorld specializes in licensed upholstery lines

by Ray Allegrezza -- Kids Today, 11/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

A majority of KidzWorld's furniture is licensed product with licenses including professional sports teams Nickelodeon.

While Kidz World, a domestic maker of juvenile furniture, may only be a few months old, its parent, Med-Lift & Mobility, has supplied lift chairs and adjustable beds to the home furnishings industry for decades.

While both companies exhibited at the recent Tupelo Furniture Market and High Point Market, Kidz World used the venues to make its debut to dealers attending the shows.

Alison Nichols, daughter of A.D. Blount, who owns both Med-Lift and Sleep-Ezz adjustable beds, is Kidz World president.

The majority of the assortment is licensed product including well-known character licenses such as Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer, Go Diego Go! and SpongeBob Squarepants.

The company also had additional licensed goods from Mossy Oak, Major League Baseball, Marvel's Spiderman 3, the NFL, the NHL and a host of collegiate licensed furniture.

Kidz World is using those names to spark sales of its assortment of recliners, chaise-skirted and non-skirted rockers, club chairs, sleepover sofas, chairs, headboards, futon mattresses, bunk bed mattresses, cube ottomans and video rockers.

Most of the items carry suggested retails that range from $79 to $149.

In addition to piggybacking product to well-established licensed lines, the company is also hoping to garner favor from buyers because the furniture is made domestically in a manufacturing plant here.

In fact, a grant from the state of Mississippi helped facilitate the launch of Kidz World, according to Dwight Griffin, vice president of sales.

“We are not so much selling furniture as we are the sizzle that comes from great licenses and a made-in-America story,” he said.

All of the fabric, with the exception of the material used on the Mossy Oak furniture, is also domestically made by Premier Printing, a local mill based in Sherman, Miss.

The company has already conducted successful in-store events with a number of leading furniture retailers including Lynchburg, Va.-based Schewels.

“This June, Schewels had a special event that gave kids the chance to have their picture taken with SpongeBob. In addition to games and refreshments, the store also had an hourly drawing for a free SpongeBob recliner.

“They had a full house that day,” Griffin said. “When you've got kids in the car and they see a sign outside a store that says SpongeBob is inside, they find a way to get their parents to take them inside.

“And in today's market, getting the customer into the store is an obstacle. We think we can help retailers overcome that challenge,” Griffin concluded.