Era Nouveau to distribute Zuoyou in Americas

Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, October 13, 2012

HIGH POINT - Leather upholstery resource Era Nouveau has formed a partnership with Zuoyou, a Chinese upholstery producer and retailer, to become that company's exclusive distributor in North and South America.
     The deal marks Zuoyou's first foray outside China, where it operates 1,200 retail stores and has 2 million square feet of leather upholstery production space near Shenzhen.
     "As manufacturers and retailers, we have become known as a premier source for affordable, high quality furniture in our domestic markets," said Huakun Huang, chairman of Zuoyou. "As we looked to grow in the Americas, we found Era Nouveau's marketing position and young, dynamic culture were a natural fit to build our global network of distribution."
     Era Nouveau, founded in 2009, features leather motion furniture that is sold primarily to larger retailers. The Zuoyou partnership allows the company to add stationary leather upholstery to its lineup and should broaden its retail customer base, said Sam Contreras, CEO.
     "We are very excited about this partnership," Contreras said. "We made the decision some time ago to aggressively seek additional sources for our products. From our first meeting with Zuoyou, it was a clear, comfortable relationship for both sides with the same shared vision."
     At market, Era Nouveau's showroom in space 20 of Center Point on Centennial will have more than 20 new Zouyou stationary and motion upholstery frames with all-leather covers that retail for $999 to $3,999.
     "While we offer value pricing that will allow our retailers to aggressively promote, we will continue to focus on our position in the marketplace as a premium leather resource," Contreras said.
     Earlier this year, Zuoyou hired Giuseppe Colafiglio to oversee manufacturing and development of its export program. A former executive in Asia with Man Wah and DeCoro, Colafiglio has more that 18 years of experience in the leather upholstery business on the continent.
     "I have been impressed from day one at Zuoyou's commitment to quality and integrity," he said. "The exclusive partnership with Era Nouveau illustrates our commitment to solid business relationships both at the supply and retail level."