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GRAMADO, Brazil — Exhibitors at Salão do Móvel Brasil who are targeting the U.S. market are finding that product developed for North America is creating new opportunities in their home market of Brazil.
Salão do Móvel Brasil is Brazil's only furniture market with a specific focus on upper price points.
"Our efforts over the past two years to create product and finishes geared toward the U.S. market have been very well-received by our customers here," said Eduardo Rech, export director of case goods manufacturer Sierra Furniture. "What we've done abroad has raised our level of quality and added new styles to the line, and our customers here have noticed the difference. Companies that are approaching the United States are raising the level of the Brazilian industry in general."
Case goods producer Masotti has been working with Akzo Nobel and Harold Poteat to develop finishes geared to the U.S. market. Poteat, formerly of Henredon, also has helped Sierra to adapt its finishes to North American tastes.
Those new finishes are proving popular among decorators and interior designers, who do a lot of buying for high-end Brazilian consumers, said Álvaro Masotti, president.
"Two finishes in particular, Cognac in honey-toned medium, and a darker Tobacco finish with physical distressing, are getting a lot of interest," Masotti said. "They like the touch, the feel of the finishes. It's a different type of product for them."
While the average Brazilian consumer might not yet go for a distressed finish, its popularity in the design community will trickle down.
"A couple of years down the road, more people will be getting this look on their own," Masotti said.
Starting from scratch three years ago, leather upholstery manufacturer Niroflex now sends between 25% and 30% of its production to the United States, and the more traditional looks it developed for its efforts there are increasing in popularity at home.
The U.S., Brazil connection
"The same product we're offering in the United States we're offering in Brazil in addition to the contemporary line," said Milton Moresca Jr., international sales director. "The customers here are really going for those looks, more traditional, with accents like nailhead trim."
This month, Niroflex is more than doubling its manufacturing capacity, starting up a new 100,000-square-foot plant to complement its existing 85,000-square-foot facility.
"We used to have 208 employees, and when the new plant goes on line we'll be up to 530," Moresca said. "We built the new plant because we are preparing the company to offer more capacity before we get the orders. We know that we have U.S. customers who are buying one frame who plan to floor more of our product this year."
Case goods and occasional manufacturer Stone Design, a former High Point exhibitor, is coming back to the U.S. market after several years' absence. Stone had left the United States in 1996 when a devaluation of the Brazilian real hurt its value in the market.
"We're not showing in High Point for the moment, but working with customers face to face," said Luiz Toniato, president. "We want to establish a level of business and then show in High Point."
Stone reopened distribution out of High Point in November, renting about 4,000 square feet of space, and now has 10 sales representatives out building business. The company is doing some direct container business, but most deliveries are out of the warehouse to retailers looking to control their inventories.
"We are creating our structure, and I think it's going to run well this year," Toniato said. "We have the team, the manager, the warehousing and all the things you need to play the game in the States. It will just take some time."
Sierra hopes to get other Brazilian manufacturers in front of U.S. retailers through Cerrado, the North American distribution subsidiary it set up early this year.
Cerrado has a sales force and warehousing in place that could save a lot of leg work for other Brazilian manufacturers willing to do business under the Cerrado/ Sierra brand.
"We are certain about our own long-term success in the U.S. market because of all the work Cerrado is doing there," said Andres Tissot, president of Sierra Furniture. "But there also are other Brazilian manufacturers with the capacity necessary to serve customers in the U.S. market."
| Toniato |
| Milton Moresca Jr. of leather upholstery manufacturer Niroflex says product for the U.S. market like the sofa shown here is creating new merchandising opportunities for business in Brazil. |
| This detail shows Masotti's Tobacco finish. Interest in such finishes among the design community in Brazil could trickle down to more Brazilian consumers in a few years. |
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