Gautier rolls out first upholstery at Paris market
By Jay McIntosh -- Furniture Today, January 23, 2005
Paris — French manufacturer Gautier rolled out beaucoups new products at this month's furniture market here, and will bring much of the line to High Point for its U.S. premiere.
Included in the introductions was Gautier's first upholstery, about a dozen sofa frames and some chairs available in leather and fabric, designed to complement the company's contemporary-flavored case goods.
Other new directions included more products available in a dark wenge finish and the company's first outsourced case goods, made in China under Gautier supervision.
"We want to keep the Gautier look," said Jose Gosselin, vice president and CEO of Florida-based Gautier USA, the company's American arm.
He said the new products won good reviews from buyers at the just-concluded Salon du Meuble in Paris, and he'll bring most of them — including the upholstery — to High Point in April.
Nearly all of Gautier's 6,000-square-foot showroom in High Point's 220 Elm building will be taken up with new product, he said.
While the company has focused on its juvenile furniture at recent High Point shows, this time it will have more adult bedroom, dining room and living room. In addition to the almost-black wenge look, woods and finishes include a warm cherry and a lighter maple.
At the Paris show, the living room settings included wall units that accommodate the larger, wider, flatter TV monitors that continue to grow in popularity.
The contemporary-styled upholstery, also outsourced, will be medium-priced, said Gosselin. A related product, also new, is Gautier's first leather-upholstered headboard.
In home office, another strength of the company, the new line is Salto, marketed as "the first French environmentally friendly desk."
Made primarily of melamine-covered chipboard and painted epoxy steel, the line has French certifications that guarantee it is made with wood from sustainable forests and recycled products, and that its metal parts are not treated with any solvents or heavy metals. The products also are designed to be long-lasting, and to be disassembled at the end of their lives for easy recycling.
Salto also has budget pricing, with a desk that will retail in the United States for $119, said Gosselin.
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