Cisco, Lazar beef up lines targeting new demographics
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, February 8, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO — Two Los Angeles-based upholstery companies have established lines aimed at new demographic groups and new distribution.
Cisco Bros., a manufacturer of upper-end upholstery, introduced 24/7 Living at market here, offering 20 frames, eight styles, 50 fabrics and two leathers in a price point that is almost half that of its regular line. The collection was shown in its own showroom down the hall from Cisco's second floor, Mart I location.
"We wanted to take the best of our design items and make them more affordable by limiting the options," said Lesley Roberts, vice president of marketing.
The collection will be warehoused for two-week delivery. Each item will be available in a limited number of fabrics.
24/7 Living, mostly transitional and contemporary, includes categories like Big Sky in bold stripes and leathers. Other groups include fabrics and fun colors designed to appeal to a hip and younger customer.
Chairs in the collection are targeted at $799 to $899 retail, and dealers may offer sofas in the $1,299 to $1,599 range. Roberts said that a sofa in a B-grade fabric in the regular Cisco line could retail in the $2,000 range, although most would be higher.
Lazar Inds.' Acme Brand Couch Company collection, introduced a year ago after Lazar broke off its partnership with Lucky Brand jeans, has evolved into a growing division, said Darrin Royer, director of design and merchandising. Initial pieces of the apparel-inspired collection were in denim with the company's own brand of "super-soft" cushions.
"Our lifestyle collection is going so much further than denim," said Royer. He said the Acme Brand looks are clean, more metro, rustic urban, vintage — defined by the division's slogan as "Relaxed American Classics."
Acme sofas range from retails of $1,195 to $1,999 and sectionals from $2,199 to $2,995, and come with a stamped metal brand on a leather patch. Delivery is four to six weeks.
"This is something that people don't look to Lazar for," said Royer, adding that Acme "is a different company with its own specific plan."
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