Demare Gliders taking up where Relax-R line left off
By Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, January 2, 2005
St-Honoré De Shenley, Quebec — Demare Gliders soon will be on retail floors across North America as successors to Relax-R, a glider rocker brand discontinued by the new owners of the now-defunct Myca Inc.
Local businessman René Plante took over Myca's factory here in early November and is Demare's president.
The factory resumed production after the takeover and will continue manufacturing glider rocker frames for other producers in addition to making the new Demare brand.
Plante's new senior management team includes Jacques Doyon as vice president of sales, Stéphane Labrecque as operations manager and Helen Papayanatos as manager of marketing and inside sales.
Doyon's first task will be to rebuild the sales organization.
"We are more than willing to rehire the Relax-R reps ... (after) we have finished reorganizing the inner workings of the company," Doyon said. "We will be looking to hire reps all over the United States and Canada.
"Almost all of the (Relax-R) line will be retained," he continued. "However, it has been modified somewhat. We have discontinued some chair models that were not quite ready for sale but had been pushed onto the market. We will rework them to maximize their comfort and quality and reintroduce them when they are fully ready."
The initial lineup will include 12 fabric-covered styles available in six frame colors and 11 fabrics, each in a range of colors. Six leather chair styles will be offered in colors including navy, green, burgundy, black, cobblestone and nubuck.
The frames will continue to be made of 11-gauge steel tubing and will be 100% hand-welded. They will be offered with three motion options: 360-degree swivel, a full 9-inch glide and a fully adjustable recline.
"Also, our research and development department has conceived a juvenile chair (Model 385) that will be highly competitive, something you can be proud to give your children or grandchildren," Doyon said.
He said the products have a No-Sag seat support system and a five-step electrostatic powder-coated finish, "keeping the frame looking like new," he said. The frames have a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects.
He believes retailers won't notice any differences between Demare's product and its predecessors.
"It is the same reliable product they were used to having in the past," he said. "The ownership and the name have changed, but all is still made by the same manufacturing facility. A name change is a minor inconvenience."
Demare Gliders won't appear at the upcoming Toronto winter market because there wasn't enough time to put together a presentation and the show already was sold out.
The company expects to show at the April market in High Point.
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