Ethnicities makes market debut
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, April 18, 2004
HIGH POINT — HIGH POINT — Ethnicities, a new importer of dining tables, chairs and accent pieces, is making its first appearance at market here in Showplace, space 2109.
Based in Highland Park, Ill., the company is showing its Buenos Aires Collection, a contemporary group designed by nine artisans in Argentina.
The products include poplar dining tables, coffee tables, chairs and benches. Many are covered with decoupage, little strips of paper painted with designs inspired by the Mapuche Indian tribe. Some of the items are meant to look like a colorful cloth throw has been stretched across the surfaces.
Similar patterns also decorate screens as well as accent, occasional and dining tables made of concrete. The concrete allows the tables to be used indoors or outdoors.
Typical retail prices in the collection are $2,600 for a table that seats eight, $1,800 for a coffee table and $1,400 for a game table.
Another Ethnicities line features leather armchairs inspired by designs from the Valdese Indians.
Because the items are made by hand, they can be customized in size, color and shape, said President Ben Sandzer-Bell.
Since forming last July, the company has shown at furniture and gift shows in Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. The company is coming to High Point partly based on the positive reaction it has had from retailers and interior designers.
"We are being told this is consistently novel and that, 'We haven't seen anything like it on the market,'" said Sandzer-Bell, who hopes to extend that appeal to a more national audience in High Point.
"Our goal is be able to connect our (product) designers, who would never be able to show in the United States, with retailers and designers who would never be able to find sources like this," Sandzer-Bell said.
The company also wants to put together a network of sales representatives.
Sandzer-Bell's partner, Peta Kaplan, is excited about the opportunity High Point affords for a new company like Ethnicities.
"We are really looking forward to it because South America is under-represented in the North American market," said Kaplan, an artist from South Africa who handles sourcing for the company.
In the future, she said, Ethnicities plans to continue producing goods based on Argentine designs. It also plans to tap design sources in other parts of South America such as Brazil and Chile.
"We really intend to find the top designers in furniture from the South American market and bring them to the North American market," Kaplan said. "They are very strong in design, and that is what our company is all about. We are looking for items that are very strong in design and texture."
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