Washington to open another upholstery manufacturer
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, January 11, 2010
PONTOTOC, Miss. — He's back….
After selling Washington Furniture and retiring, then doing the same with American Furniture, 71-year-old Gerald Washington is set to open another upholstery company selling sofas that retail for $299 and up and recliners for $199 to $249.
Washington has fulfilled non-compete contractual obligations related to the American sale and is returning after five years on the periphery of the industry. He has been operating a furniture supply business and said he also was able to “hunt a little bit, fish a little bit and do a little of this an that.”
His new company, Washington Furniture Sales, will launch at the Tupelo Furniture Market this month with a line that includes six sofa styles in the $299-$399 price points and one at $499, and two to three recliners in the $199-$249 range. He will show in Building 3 of the Tupelo market complex.
Washington will be manufacturing in a 150,000-square-foot building he owns close to his home here, but plans to move into a bigger building. “Whether I have to build or buy, whatever, I will do,” he said, noting that he expects to need 300,000 to 500,000 square feet in the near future.
If he builds, Washington said he has 61 acres on Highway 15 in Ecru, Miss., between the Ashley and American plants on which to locate.
He added that he will use sturdy 1.8 density foam for seating to give the company an edge. “Most of the people have been squashed with foam prices and every kind of price increase. If something goes up, they just cut their foam and make less seat in it. I want a good promotional piece of furniture,” he said.
He plans to start production the first week in February.
Washington will be competing with companies that include American and Affordable, which have embraced his concept of limiting styles and fabrics, warehousing finished goods and shipping quickly — often in 48 hours.
Besides using a better foam that he used in previous manufacturing, Washington said, “I'm just going to try to do everything a little better, ship a little faster and keep the line small where I can ship (quickly). People start growing and they have the (multiple) styles and they can't ship fast.”
How many styles will he manufacture? “Tops will be 10,” he said.
Starting by making frames, he opened Washington Furniture in the late 1970s and built it into a major promotional vendor before selling it to New York investor George McFadden in 1986. Washington continued to run the company until 1997, before leaving to start American a year later.
Washington Furniture later changed its name to Kensington and eventually went out of business. American's annual sales were $100 million-plus when Washington and investor partner Clearview Capital sold the company in 2004.
Asked if he expected to get his old customers back to his new enterprise, Washington said, “Absolutely.”
He said he expects to open a showroom in High Point but hasn't finalized plans for it yet.
Asked for projections on growth, Washington demurred, saying, “I don't know. We'll just go with the flow.”
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