Highland House offers shops
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, June 27, 2005
Hickory, N.C. — Upper-end upholstery maker Highland House is offering a retail concept it calls European Excursions "shops," both in-store and freestanding.
European Excursions is the umbrella name for three groups of furniture based on locations in Europe. Cotswold Cottage is country English, Rue de Provence is cottage-style French with colorful fabrics, and the newest, Le Cinque Terre, is inspired by the colorful coastal Mediterranean villages that bear the same name.
Highland House, a division of Century, added bedroom and dining in April to round out Cotswold Cottage and Le Cinque Terre. Case goods are planned for Rue de Provence in October.
To enhance the shops, Highland House has partnered with Currey & Co. for lighting, Abu Oriental Rugs for hand-woven Oriental rugs and The Liora Manne Collection for wool felt floor coverings. Other partners are on tap.
"We will be increasing our accessory side," said Highland House President Tom Staats. "Our approach is to give (retailers) the whole look."
He said the concept differs from a gallery because each shop will display only one style of furniture, while the typical gallery shows several. Retailers will be encouraged to open either a Cotswold or Cinque Terre shop to present a themed message. Pieces in all three groups are similar in their refined county casual look, so they could be mixed, but Staats said a single style theme is preferable.
Two retail shops are under way, with "a dozen or more" in the planning stage, he said. They will open in late summer or early fall when the case goods begin to hit retail. The company said it has no goal for the number of shops it would like to see.
While size is flexible, Highland House provides schematics for 800 and 1,200 square feet, with a tightly focused mix of 40 to 60 pieces. Signage will depict the European locations that inspired the collection.
Highland House has had case goods in the past, but this is the first collection under Century ownership, and solidifies the company's emergence as a brand for cottage European looks. There are about 35 case goods SKUs in European Excursions.
