Europe's Parisot enters North America with RTA
By Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, September 18, 2005
Moncton, New Brunswick — Parisot Group, one of Europe's largest producers of ready-to-assemble and assembled furniture, has set up shop here in a bid to gain a slice of the North American market. The initial focus will be on RTA at better and best prices.
Merica Furniture, as its North American division is called, is based in Moncton, with distribution centers in Montreal and Jacksonville, Fla. The company has a showroom on the 8th floor of the C&D building in High Point.
Dave Maltais is vice president of North American operations. He previously held a similar position with Eastwood Furniture, a New Brunswick-based RTA producer.
Parisot has annual sales of about C$1 billion and operates 14 manufacturing facilities in France, Romania, Indonesia and China, with a core offering encompassing about 4,000 SKUs, including laminate-finished particleboard RTA furniture, kitchen and bath furniture, upholstery, solid-wood case goods and accent furniture sourced in China.
The third-generation, family-owned and operated manufacturer makes all of its particleboard at a facility in France.
Maltais said the company plans eventually to sell its entire line in North America, but for now is offering only RTA.
"Even though at this time all our furniture is being imported, we do not exclude the possibility of having a manufacturing plant in North America in the future," he said. "Our object is to become a well-recognized RTA supplier to North American retailers."
Merica currently is stocking some 1,500 SKUs of contemporary-styled home entertainment, home office, and adult and juvenile bedroom, including wardrobes, in its Montreal and Jacksonville warehouses, allowing it to offer delivery times and service equal to any North American-based competitor, Maltais said.
Merica offers retailers RTA with a European flair and will add as many as 300 items to its lineup annually, he said.
"We are able to offer something that is different," Maltais said. "North American manufacturers use a lot of one-sided finished board. Europeans finish everything on both sides. Furthermore, everything is edged to prevent moisture from seeping into the particleboard."
Product for North America generally is being made larger than for Europe. "The basic design doesn't change but it is scaled for North American proportions," Maltais said. "But we're selling what Parisot is making without any (style) modifications, and we're selling it because it's different. That's exactly the approach we're taking to retail buyers: We're different."
Merica is still building its sales force, but Maltais said product will be seen on the floors of a number of prominent Canadian and U.S. retailers in the coming months. He didn't name the retailers.
"We want to be right up there with Bush, Sauder and the rest of those guys," he said. "We know it's going to be a long process, but we're in a growth mode for North America."
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