J Miles makes debut
Tupelo Market Coverage
Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, August 30, 2005
 This traditional sofa from J Miles in a Tietex cover will retail for about $999. |
| This traditional sofa from J Miles in a Tietex cover will retail for about $999. |
RIPLEY, Miss. -- A group of former BenchCraft executives has formed a traditional mid-priced upholstery company here that will begin production in mid-September.
Heading the operation, J Miles & Co., is former BenchCraft President Greg Henderson, who will be president and CEO. David Pike and Mike Hurst, who also worked at BenchCraft, are vice president sales and marketing and vice president of purchasing, respectively. Two other partners are unidentified.
The company has 20,000 square feet of manufacturing space but has another 100,000 square feet “in hand,” Henderson said, declining to give details.
J Miles will produce upholstery in the $999 to $1,599 price points. “It’s all stationary right now, but there are several things on the drawing board,” Henderson said.
The company’s product will be made of 7/8-inch hardwood and a SoftLux seating system. Quality will be emphasized, and the goods will have a warranty that Henderson said is equal to or exceeds that of competitors.
“We never want to hear back from a piece,” Henderson said. J Miles will do its sewing in house rather than relying on offshore cut-and-sew labor.
“We’ve been talking about this for three years. The economy couldn’t be any more stressed, oil prices couldn’t be any more unstable and China couldn’t be more uncertain. So we started a company,” Henderson said during J Miles’ first showing of nine groups at this month’s Tupelo market.
“We don’t want to grow too fast,” he said. “We have a three-year controlled growth plan. Our immediate target is the Southeast and stores who carry this traditional price point product … and recognize the value and want somebody to deliver.”
The company’s delivery time is expected to be 14 days.
Henderson said J Miles expects to show in High Point and in Las Vegas. “We weren’t ready to show this time in Vegas,” Henderson said. “We wanted to show here (in Tupelo) to get our samples out.”
J Miles makes debut
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