Chris Stone takes 'partnership approach'
By Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today, January 26, 2009
VERNON, Calif. — Chris Stone heads into 2009 with a wave of new customer-driven initiatives aimed at enhancing service, sharpening values and reducing delivery times, said Brian Wygle, who joined the firm as interim CEO in March 2008 before being named to the post permanently in November.
The West Coast printing, dyeing and design specialist is creating a “partnership approach” with its customers.
“The economy is not necessarily going to make our sales go up, so we have to go out and create opportunity,” Wygle said. “In the long run, that will be a lot more important than price.”
Aside from “learning to live on less sales,” the company's main challenge is to take care of customers who want Chris Stone to stock inventory.
“We have to buy in larger quantities and eke it out because customers want smaller quantities,” Wygle said. “We are working to become nimble in providing more service and delivery options, as well as more custom work and shorter runs.
“Our strength is design capability,” Wygle added. “As a domestic resource, we can do a 250-yard run, for example, versus 3,000 yards.”
A new domestically-made cotton product, Stetson, was introduced at Showtime in High Point last month. Domestic goods can sometimes be pricey, but Wygle has high hopes for this moderately-priced line.
“Our focus now is to use what we have learned to help our customers… by being more nimble and managing the supply chain from the raw materials up through forecast targeting and flow,” Wygle said.
The company is hiring a few additional people to work specifically with ordering and planning, he said.
“Bulking up” on raw materials, Chris Stone has implemented an in-stock program, and can ship within 48 hours.
Chris Stone also is lending a hand to smaller customers that may have credit woes. Working in-house rather than through outside factors allows the fabric resource to offer better terms based on strong customer relationships. Chris Stone also is offering discounts and allowing those who may be paying slower to stretch payments.
The company has created Chris Stone International to bolster its global reach in selling and sourcing products. Scott Edwards, formerly vice president of operations, has been named executive director of the new division.
“The emphasis of CSI is to sell (overseas) but we also see opportunities to source such raw materials as greige goods,” Wygle said. “Scott has expertise with tariff issues and other factors related to international trade that can be complicated.”
The fabric resource also is testing Chris Stone for Less, a value-based line that features the company's signature look, but is printed on different base cloths, using fewer screens and colors and less complicated designs. “We are reining in our design edge a bit without losing our feel,” said Wygle.
The program rolls out this spring.
The company has revamped its quality control department and established new procedures. “We can now take the time to send things back if need be,” he said.
“We may have lost a few customers who want us to sell cheaper,” but he said, “We are removing redundancies and changing some things — without any layoffs.”
Wygle predicts 2009 will be “a rough year— better than the last part of 2008, but choppy.”
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