Century, Timberlake team up
Casual traditional collection to debut at High Point Market
Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, January 7, 2011
Century President and CEO Eric Schenk, left, with artist and designer Bob Timberlake and Alex Shuford III, Century vice president of sales and marketing.
LEXINGTON, N.C. - North Carolina artist Bob Timberlake and Hickory, N.C.- based manufacturer Century Furniture are teaming up in 2011 in an effort to build on the success of one of the industry's longest-running licenses.
Bob Timberlake Inc. and Century have entered a licensing partnership that officially began Jan. 1. Timberlake's former 20-year association with Lexington Home Brands expired Dec. 31.
For years, the World of Bob Timberlake line was one of Lexington's signature furniture lines. According to the Timberlake organization, the line has accounted for more than $1 billion in wholesale sales.
The alliance with Century also marks a new beginning for the 73-year-old Timberlake, a nationally known realist painter who has been a professional artist since 1970, when he left his family's propane business to paint full time.
While Timberlake had a successful run with Lexington and says he has a number of friends there, he said he looks forward to his next creative phase in furniture. He said it has been several years since he has been able to use his creative energies in the realm of furniture design.
"For the past 10 years I have been pent up and haven't been able to express myself," he said of his passion for designing furniture. "A love unexpressed is only an illusion. If you are able to express it, it is an amazing thing to have happen."
He added that he likes Century's approach to design. "They had a lot of vision and that creativity part is what excites me."
Timberlake officials began discussing a possible licensing partnership with Century in November 2009. Members of the Timberlake family and the Shuford family, descendants of Harley F. Shuford Sr., who founded Century in 1947, began talking in earnest in the following months. By March 2010 they had reached an agreement.
Specifics of the new agreement, including its length, were not disclosed. However, in an interview at the Bob Timberlake gallery in Lexington last month, Timberlake and Century officials indicated that the partnership would be longterm.
Century officials said the Bob Timberlake line will cover the good, better and best price points in its case goods and upholstery offerings.
Century will produce the better and best parts of the line. Linwood Furniture, a North Carolina manufacturer that in recent years has produced the domestic portion of the Timberlake line for Lexington, will produce the good or entry level case goods. A number of accent furniture pieces will be developed overseas.
Century will produce an initial, yet-to-be-named casual traditional collection to be unveiled at the April High Point Market. It will include about 50 case goods pieces and 40 upholstery items designed in partnership with Timberlake.
Timberlake said he was particularly excited about the upholstery component, including Century's custom approach. The manufacturer currently offers about 1,500 fabric, 200 leather, 45 nailhead and 200 decorative trim options.
Timberlake officials estimated that previously, only about 10% of the line included upholstery. Now it will make up roughly half of the mix.
On the wood side, Century offers 56 finish options and two types of distressing.
Century officials said Timberlake represents a chance to reach a broad array of customers.
"We get a lot of opportunities thrown at us and choose very few," said Alex Shuford III, vice president of sales and marketing. "We only want to work with people we like and this from the very beginning struck us as that type of relationship.... The old collection had a phenomenal run and created a lot of brand loyalty to Bob and the Timberlake brand over the years.... People like living casually and there is no better brand to create that sense of nesting, of sophisticated casual comfort."
Timberlake officials said they are excited about an opportunity they believe will help revive the brand.
"Rarely does a brand get a second shot, much less a second coming," said Dan Timberlake, chief operating officer of Bob Timberlake Inc. "We know it's going to be a good reflection on his name and that is what is critical to us."
Bob Timberlake said he believes this will be the third next major phase of his artistic life. The first was when he started painting in 1970 and the second, 20 years later, was when he and Lexington conceived the World of Bob Timberlake collection.
"It's really exciting," he said. "It's like Christmas and I'm looking forward to it."
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Bob Timberlake and Century Furniture team up in 2011
Dec 22, 2010
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