Craftmaster expands leather upholstery line with 15 new groups

Hires Lance Foster as VP of sales, merchandising for program

Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, April 16, 2012

HIGH POINT — Upholstery producer and importer Craftmaster Furniture is set to unveil an expanded leather upholstery program that features sofas with all-leather covers that will retail for $999 to $1,499.

Called Encore Home Designs, the new program will introduce about 15 seating groups and eight recliners and chairs at market. They will be displayed in a dedicated 6,500-square-foot space within the Craftmaster/Universal showroom at 2622 Uwharrie Rd.

The products will be manufactured at an upholstery factory in Jiashan, China, owned by parent company Lacquercraft, and warehoused at Craftmaster's domestic plant in Taylorsville, N.C. Merchandise also will be available on a container-direct basis.

"We are very excited to be introducing this new program which enhances our current leather assortment by expanding the product offering significantly ... and offering direct container pricing for all dealers," said Roy Calcagne, Craftmaster president and CEO.

The company has hired Lance Foster, former general manger of Lacquercraft's Sofitalia subsidiary, as vice president of sales and merchandising for Encore Home Designs.

"With the creation of this new division and a focused management team, we are looking to grow our import leather program significantly over the next 18 to 24 months," Calcagne said. "We are fortunate to have someone with Lance's experience on board who has a tremendous amount of knowledge in upholstery merchandising and Asian sourcing."

Calcagne said the Encore Home Designs lineup features eight-way, hand-tied coil spring systems in the Premier and Signature lines, and sinuous wire in the Essentials line. All three lines will have all-leather covers and pocketed coil seat cushions.

In addition, fabric accent chairs and pillows from Craftmaster's Taylorsville factory will be correlated to the leather groups.

Dealers can mix up to four groups on container-direct orders. Orders for warehoused goods can be shipped on the same trucks as Craftmaster's domestically produced upholstery.