Share this on

DeFehr to focus on wood BR

By Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, October 5, 2003

Palliser's history at a glance

1944: Abram Albert DeFehr sells his car and uses the money to buy five woodworking tools and an instruction manual. Opens A.A. DeFehr Mfg. Ltd. in the basement of his Winnipeg, Manitoba, home, making stepladders, ironing boards and clothes drying racks, producing three pieces a day with two employees.
1945: Moves shop, with four employees, to a converted chicken barn rented for C$12 a month.
1948: Builds a 4,000-square-foot factory in Winnipeg, employs six people.
1949: A half-moon end table gains the attention of, and an order from, a large department store chain. DeFehr decides to develop a line of wood furniture.
1963: 45,000-square-foot factory built in Winnipeg; 50 people employed; oldest son Frank DeFehr joins.
1964: First million-dollar sales year.
1966: Holds its first furniture show in Winnipeg.
1967: Son Arthur DeFehr joins.
1969: First upholstery plants opens in Alberta with about 20 employees.
1971: Builds a 40,000-square-foot case goods plant in Alberta employing 25 people.
1974: DeFehr Foundation established to distribute a percentage of company profits to charitable causes.
1977: Purchases an existing upholstery manufacturer in Winnipeg.
1979: New 86,000-square-foot factory is added to the Winnipeg operation. By the end of the '70s, A.A. DeFehr Mfg. has six factories and over 600 employees.
1980: Company renamed Palliser Furniture Ltd. after pioneer John Palliser, who explored western Canada in the mid-19th century. Frank DeFehr appointed president.
1981: Launches U.S. operations. During the first year, sales in the U.S. total C$1.5 million.
1984: Art DeFehr named president.
1986: Case goods capacity added in Winnipeg, bringing total manufacturing space to about 1 million square feet.
1987: Establishes World Trade Division to import and distribute product. Taiwan office opened to source components and materials.
1989: Establishes its own permanent showroom facility in High Point. A particleboard plant is purchased and relocated from Europe to Winnipeg.
1990: Begins making leather upholstery.
1991: Expands leather capacity, adding facilities in Troutman, N.C., and in Alberta.
1998: A.A. DeFehr dies. Leather upholstery factory opened in Mexico.
1999: Begins making case goods in Semarang, Indonesia. By the end of the '90s, has about 2.5 million square feet of manufacturing space, employs over 4,000 people worldwide and hits about C$350 million in annual sales.
2001: Opens new High Point showroom facility, 220 Elm. EQ3 line introduced; first EQ3 freestanding store opens in Winnipeg.
2002: Opens offices in Thailand, China and Indonesia. EQ3 expands to over 100 in-store galleries, opens three more stores.
2003: EQ3 adds over 50 galleries and five stores. Spins off the DeFehr solid-wood division to a family ownership group headed by Frank DeFehr.

Winnipeg, Manitoba — The newly created DeFehr Furniture will make solid-wood furniture in pine, oak and ash in traditional and transitional styles, concentrating on master bedroom but also offering home entertainment and home office in truckload quantities to select retailers at value prices.

The Palliser spinoff, in short, intends to compete head on with imports.

"We have a large, well-equipped plant and an experienced, dependable work force," said Rick DeFehr, customer service and distribution manager and son of chief executive officer Frank DeFehr. "We will be a low-cost producer, and our objective is to focus the product line to give the retailer a domestic wood story with exceptional service and delivery.... We are going to focus on a select group of accounts that we can sell truckloads to. We feel we have to take this approach so that we can pump up our volume to the point where we can offer real savings on the pricing."

Delivery times will be two to four weeks, he said.

"Our message to dealers is simple: To provide you with the competitive pricing and service you need, this is how we're going to have to do business with you," DeFehr said.

The company has relationships with many leading retail lights on both sides of the border, including Levitz, Seaman's, Rooms To Go, The Brick and Sears Canada, and with many larger independents.

"We will put more emphasis on the Canadian market, but we will continue to develop strong relationships in the United States with existing customers," DeFehr said.

"The DeFehr division, like many companies in the recent economic climate, wasn't performing as well as it had in the past," he said. "So we decided to take a division that had been underperforming and give it some TLC."

"This company will benefit by having significant synergies with Palliser," said CEO Frank DeFehr. "While our strategies are different, they are complementary, and the goal for both companies is to grow."

The upcoming High Point market will give the new company its first opportunity to meet retailers as an independent producer. DeFehr won't show much new product. "It will be an opportunity for dealers to get to know the new management," Rick DeFehr said. "It will be an opportunity to showcase where we're going."

DeFehr Furniture will exhibit this market in Palliser's showroom at 220 Elm. The company expects to have a number of dedicated sales representatives as well as several reps who will carry both Palliser and DeFehr products.

"My grandfather, who started Palliser, was extremely proud of this division," DeFehr said. "He would be very pleased to see the family working together. That's part of the reason for choosing the name, which is well known within the community and the furniture industry in Canada."

Share this on

Top 10 Canadian sources struggle for growth as imports gain force

Jun 26, 2005

Pulaski, SLF merge

Sep 17, 2006

Canadian factories brace for increased import heat

Jun 1, 2003

Hooker to close N.C. plant

Jul 28, 2005

Palliser to shift some leather mfg. to Mexico

Apr 17, 2005

Also by this author

Also by Michael J Knell

Featured Company

FurnitureCore.com

FurnitureCore.com is a dynamic web application aimed at the furniture industry. Retailers and manufacturers alike will find our deep reserve of tools to be exactly what their furniture business needs.www.furniturecore.com... more