Magnussen launching BR division
By Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, September 23, 2001
HIGH POINT — Importer Magnussen Presidential will launch a new bedroom division with six collections at the October market. The groups were shown at premarket here earlier this month.
Styles range from traditional English and ornate Italian to West Indies and Art Deco-influenced groups. Beds in the line, made in China, will retail from $799 to $1,799.
The bedroom division sprang from the year-long Marco Polo Project, which included research and strategic planning involving consumer focus groups and input from dealers on product direction for bedroom (see story on page 37).
"We made a commitment to diversify our product line and come to market with power," said Jeff Cook, president of Canadian-based Magnussen Presidential. "Our occasional dealers encouraged us to consider the bedroom category because it is in the middle of a sea change."
The company wrote orders on the new product at premarket, and delivery should start by late November or early December.
Magnussen is looking to bedroom to increase its importance as a well-rounded resource. The company took its time entering the category because it was determined to maintain service and come to market with the right product, Cook said.
Ed Fritz, who joined the company as vice president of merchandising for case goods earlier this year, was a key player in developing the bedroom program. Fritz came from Lane, where he was vice president of international sales, held merchandising positions, and has extensive experience developing case goods product.
The bedroom division will hit the ground running on the Magnussen Express program, which offers seven-days-or-less delivery from the Ontario, Calif., warehouse to the lower 48 states.
Dealers soon will have two other delivery options — direc containers out of Hong Kong, and consolidated containers out of China.
"We're offering the warehouse program and direct containers immediately," Cook said. "We'll be mixing bedroom containers by early next year."
To grow the bedroom program along with its occasional business, Magnussen is poised to add 400,000 high-cube square feet to the 133,000-square-foot Ontario facility. The site is expandable by another 400,000 square feet.
Until it moves into the new space, set for June 1 next year, the company is using an 80,000-square-foot satellite warehouse near its existing facility, stocked completely with tables.
"We'll store fast-moving items in the main warehouse," Cook said. "We're using the satellite as a feeder just for tables."
Magnussen will rely upon the factories where it sources occasional to supply bedroom. Those plants already have been providing bedroom furniture for high-end U.S. companies, Cook said.
| Spoleto is one of six bedrooms in a variety of styles kicking off Magnussen Presidential's bedroom division. |
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