Sauder Tv Stands

Plasma TVs open a new range of options for placement. You could even hang it on the wall. But not everyone wants the television to hang from the wall like fine art. And mounting the $10,000 TV could cost another $2,500, so you may want to look for other options.

You could drill holes in an existing table to attach the television and then add brackets to secure the whole thing to a wall - - not a great idea if you ever want to use that table for something else.

Such headaches are disappearing with the advent of several new designs out this fall.

Furniture manufacturers introduced the first home entertainment units for plasma TVs during the International Home Furnishings Market at High Point, N.C., last spring.

"This is one of those things where you don't wait for demand. You just use a little bit of logic," said Edward Tashjian, corporate marketing director for Century Furniture, which is introducing a console from which the plasma TV rises up with the push of a button on the remote control.

Hooker Furniture, which specializes in home entertainment units, is offering several new styles for plasma TV owners. The most expensive units offer the pop-up option. Others are consoles with brackets on the top to affix to the television. And larger wall units feature a wide, shallow central area for the skinny TVs.

A dealer locator on the Hooker Web site can direct people to the nearest dealer that sells the products.

Even Bush Furniture, which is known for its low-cost, home- assembly-required entertainment units, is offering new styles for the high-end plasma TVs. "We're aggressively designing in that area," said James Schmidt II, vice president of merchandising and marketing. "There hasn't become a standard in attaching plasma TV's to the walls. That's why our stands end up being a better option."

The Bush units are available in electronics stores such as Best Buy and Circuit City -- one-stop shopping for customers already there to buy their first plasma TVs.

The plasma TV units are among several items rolling out under the growing "home theater" category. With every upgrade in TV size and technology, furniture manufacturers realize consumers don't want to have to buy a new wall unit every time they buy a new set.

So furniture makers like Bush, Hooker and Sauder have come up with "future-proof" units that can expand or contract based on the size of the TV.

Once the entertainment center is set up, the seating becomes just as important as the viewing. Several manufacturers have introduced banks of recliner seating for home theaters. The thick arm rests include cup holders and storage for CDs and DVDs.

La-Z-Boy's line offers seating with Tempur-Pedic foam, which conforms to the shape of whoever sits on it. But the company made sure the reclining angle was such that "you don't fall asleep in it," said Greg White, vice president for merchandising at La-Z-Boy.

The only thing plasma TVs, home entertainment centers and rows of recliner seating can't offer, of course, is a room big enough to fit it all.

On the Net

(BULLET) www.hookerfurniture.com.

(BULLET) www.century.com.

(BULLET) www.bushfurniture.com.

(BULLET) www.sauder.com.

(BULLET) www.lazboy.com.

Scripps Howard News Service

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