California combo
Creative Ideas, Oakwood to merge
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, January 29, 2006
Las Vegas — West Coast manufacturers Creative Ideas and Oakwood Interiors have agreed to merge, creating a case goods company focused on bedroom, home office and home entertainment.
The merger is expected to be completed this spring, but the companies are showing together at this week's market here, in the World Market Center, space 1001.
Company officials did not disclose the combined company's projected sales. However, they said it will have about 400 employees and about 45 sales representatives.
Creative Ideas will move its headquarters and manufacturing operations from Corona, Calif., into Oakwood's 200,000-square-foot plant in Ontario, about 10 miles away.
For now, the company will bear the name of both organizations.
Creative Ideas CEO Steve Balsamo and Oakwood Interiors CEO Nick Lanphier said they have been talking about a possible merger for about a year — more seriously in the past two months.
Both companies' plants were operating below capacity. Balsamo and Lanphier said the merger will help them operate at full capacity, and also share some expenses and resources.
"Merging the companies seemed to be a good idea because it seems to dramatically reduce the overhead," said Balsamo, who said his 175,000-square-foot plant was running at about 50% capacity.
Officials said the merger also makes sense because the companies each produce midpriced to high-end products in their respective categories. Oakwood does 95% of its business in bedroom, while Creative Ideas specializes in home office and home entertainment.
"We have similar levels of quality and we are both going after a high-quality product," said Lanphier.
Ultimately, the business will be divided evenly between bedroom and home office/home entertainment, Lanphier said. Depending on the needs of its dealers, the merged company also will be able to offer complementary home office and bedroom collections.
Balsamo said the companies will share resources and skill sets.
For instance, while both use similar wood types, Creative Ideas' business model is based on customization and small runs, with numerous options in wood, finish, desk sizes and pedestals, which allow the product to be tailored to consumer needs.
"We are looking at elements of his product line that will work well with bedroom," Lanphier said. "We'll be able to set ourselves up to offer more choices on different types of woods and finishes."
Lanphier runs a highly automated operation with 15 CNC routers capable of carved elements.
"We have quite a bit more machining capacity," Lanphier said. "We are probably as advanced as any carver in the country."
Oakwood also has an import division, which the company started about two years ago by acquiring the Alan Morgan line of bedroom furniture. Today, imports represent roughly 15% of sales.
"Our object for the first three to six months is to get everything up and running and not changing anything with either operation," Balsamo said. "That way we are not forcing anything."
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Creative-Oakwood merger: Unity provides edge
Jun 11, 2006 -
Oakwood shifts back to solid-wood bedroom
Jan 20, 2008 -
Oakwood Interiors returns to its roots
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