Art Van rolls out 1st group in imported proprietary line
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, January 29, 2007
Warren, Mich. — Retailer Art Van is rolling out the first collection in a new proprietary furniture line targeting its Michigan consumers.
Copper Harbor, designed for the Top 100 chain by Michigan native Dan Yates, is a lodge-style collection named after an area of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Lake Superior region.
The group of about 40 pieces of dining room, bedroom and occasional furniture began shipping to the company's 29 stores this month. It's primarily pine with features described as including "supple leather, hand-forged copper accents and brass tacking."
Art Van is dedicating about 2,000 to 2,500 square feet in each store to the line, which is coming from China, said Chris Morrisroe, communications director.
It's the first offering of an exclusive series called Michigan H.O.M.E.S. (for Great Lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior). Yates is working on a follow-up collection, and Art Van hopes to introduce two more under the H.O.M.E.S. banner within 18 months, Morrisroe said, "and we'll see how it goes from there."
To develop the groups, Art Van is looking to work with designers with Michigan ties, she said.
Yates, who was born on the shoreline in Muskegon, Mich., now lives in Trinity, where he works for Charles Harris Design Associates. Previously, he worked for R.J. Woodworking in Dalton, Mich., as well as Thomasville Furniture Inds., Tom Keller and Associates, Bassett Furniture and Haywood West and Co.
Morrisroe declined to disclose sales projections for H.O.M.E.S.
This isn't the first time a retailer, or Art Van, has developed exclusive lines, of course. Havertys has long had its proprietary Havertys Collections, primarily sourced overseas, and Rooms To Go has been making waves with its Cindy Crawford Home.
In 2003, Art Van hooked up with Detroit Red Wings hockey star Steve Yzerman, who lent his name to an exclusive collection that continues to do well for the retailer, Morrisroe said.
