New Ralph Lauren license represents fresh challenge in E.J. Victor's custom work
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, October 17, 2009
MORGANTON, N.C. — It's the day before the July 4 holiday weekend, and the E.J. Victor plant here is unseasonably busy. Case goods and upholstery production workers are hard at work assembling, sanding and finishing case goods and applying fabric to frames.
They're looking forward to the holiday weekend, but most will be back to work Monday — on a week when many U.S. furniture factories shut down because of the seasonal slowdown in orders.
But E.J. Victor was putting the finishing touches on samples for its newest client, Ralph Lauren Home, which was preparing for its private show in New York in August, and was filling other orders.
At this week's High Point Market, E.J. Victor is showing at 116 S. Lindsay St.
E.J. Victor became the Ralph Lauren Home licensee in January, taking over from previous licensee Henredon, which had produced a mostly imported line since 1993.
Today, some Ralph Lauren Home furniture is still sourced, including about 140 items carried over from the Henredon line. But E.J. Victor is making more and more of the Lauren product in Morganton, which E.J. Victor has called home for the 20 years it has been in business.
Over time, the company has gained respect as a high-end case goods and upholstery producer. In addition to its own brand, it turns out licensed collections for Newport, Randall Tysinger, Carol Bolton, Julia Gray and Caroline Faison.
Ralph Lauren represents E.J. Victor's latest opportunity to test its mettle as a domestic producer with custom capability. Company officials say they are eager to meet the challenge.
“The Ralph Lauren clientele has the same demands for customization that the E.J. Victor customer has,” said company President John Jokinen. “We will continue to expand on that as the collections grow with Ralph Lauren.… I think it is a good fit for us and a good fit for them because they didn't have that capability with the previous licensee.”
E.J. Victor's custom capability lies mostly in finish and fabric options. The line offers as many as 60 finishes on case goods and 80 on upholstery frames, nearly double what the company offered 10 to 15 years ago.
It offers 1,100 fabrics for upholstery. About 300 covers, including some leathers, are exclusive to the Ralph Lauren line.
On the wood side, the company also customizes the length and height of dining tables, said Ed Phifer, senior vice president.
E.J. Victor also can vary veneer patterns on various pieces. Veneers include fancy face varieties ranging from French walnut and satinwood to crotch mahogany and okeume.
In Ralph Lauren Home, E.J. Victor introduced two main collections in April. City Modern includes 25 pieces of bedroom, dining room, occasional and upholstery, and Indian Cove Lodge has 18 pieces of case goods and upholstery. Ninety percent of City Modern is produced domestically, and half of Indian Cove Lodge is produced domestically.
During a tour of the factory, Phifer said that flexibility in production is important not just for the Ralph Lauren Home line, but also to other design-oriented customers. Many of these customers view customization as a value-added feature that justifies higher prices, such as the $32,000 suggested retail on a George III china and deck in the regular E.J. Victor line.
Most Ralph Lauren pieces are in the same price range as the regular E.J. Victor line, Phifer said.
Phil Bartet, manager of retailer Sheffield Furniture & Interiors in Rockville, Md., said he has carried E.J. Victor for years. While the line definitely is high-end, it is recognized as a value by consumers, he said.
“The economy has affected the purchasing power of everyone, but there is still a customer that has money and does demand and expect quality,” said Bartet.
He also praised the clarity of finishes offered in the line, which he said is important in order to show off wood grains, and the variety of finishes available. “Their custom approach is phenomenal for the industry,” he said.
Jokinen said some 75% of E.J. Victor's business is from designers or from retailers that have at least one designer on staff. That's up from about 30% a decade ago.
Those orders help keep the machines running at the company's 190,000-square-foot case goods factory and 120,000-square-foot upholstery plant, which employ 170 production workers.
Excluding the Ralph Lauren line, about 75% of E.J. Victor's case goods are domestically made.
Because the Lauren line has some carryover sourced product from the previous licensee, it's only about 25% domestic. Jokinen expects the latter number to rise to 50% over time, thinking that large case pieces like beds and dining tables will be made domestically while smaller pieces like occasional tables will continue to be imported.
With the exception of some wicker pieces, nearly all of the Lauren upholstery will be produced domestically, he said. Some heavily carved chair frames will be imported, but will be upholstered and finished in Morganton.
While he is optimistic about the prospects for Ralph Lauren Home, Jokinen said E.J. Victor is facing challenges no different than others in the industry. He declines to reveal the privately held company's sales, but said that business has suffered in the years after the 2001 terrorist attacks and only now have reached levels seen in 2000. He is optimistic the growth trend will continue, thanks to Ralph Lauren and the company's other lines.
“As we emerge from these troubled times, we feel we are well positioned to take advantage of the opportunity to serve the designer that requires customization from a manufacturer,” he said.
He admits that while the demands of the Ralph Lauren Home organization are stringent, he said that only reflects a desire to live up to the brand's reputation in the marketplace.
“They are very dedicated in terms of doing things the right way,” he said, noting that the Ralph Lauren team participates in every step of the product development process. “They want to have a meaningful presence in the store and want that account to be respectful of the brand.… I understand and respect the brand and am willing to be a good partner for them.”
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