Leather resources showcase cut-and-sew programs
By Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today, February 8, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO — Cut-and-sew programs made strong showings in leather upholstery showrooms here.
With leather from South America or China, such manufacturers as Lane, Broyhill, El Ran and Flexsteel offered smart upholstery derived from cut-and-sew.
Such programs cut costs by pushing the labor-intensive cutting offshore, while still allowing manufacturers to control quality by assembling the upholstery at home. Some see cut-and-sew as additional ammo in the war against imports.
While most suppliers here put a fresh spin on sofas introduced at High Point in October, Lane unveiled a new all-leather promotional group called Markham. It's available as a stationary sofa at $899 or in motion at $999. Lane uses cut-and-sew kits from China and assembles in Mississippi.
Flexsteel, meanwhile, drew on cut-and-sew programs from South America for its presentation here.
At Broyhill, the advent of the Attic Heirlooms leather assortment in October has ended the company's "struggle to find its niche in leather," said David Banister, senior vice president of sales. "We've put together a fine merchandising team that understands the product and the retail side. Attic Heirlooms is by far the strongest introduction of an assortment of leather Broyhill has ever had."
The moderately priced special-order line, which relies on cut-and-sew from South America, is geared to serve "the middle 65% of the buying community," Banister said. The collection will be expanded for April with an entertainment sectional and more sofas.
El Ran, in a permanent space here after four markets in temporary spaces, promoted a cut-and-sew program from South America. The line, from $999 to $1,399 retail, was introduced in Toronto in January. "Business is growing because we are still new, with new prospects and potential accounts," said Sheldon Lubin, El Ran president.
Hacienda Leather, which has operated out of California for 12 years, showed its lower-medium to midpriced line here for the first time. The company has a Western clientele and does 90% of its business in special order, with the rest Chinese imports.
Asian importer Acme Furniture entered the leather category 18 months ago, and is readying its first motion sectional in leather for April. It opened a 600,000-square-foot warehouse to support its West Coast distribution. "We're experiencing a great deal of growth," said Marvin Ruben, vice president.
Palliser was pleased by the response to its leather upholstery, including three bycast models, as was Ashley's Millennium division, with eight motion and stationary frames.
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