Thomas Russell — Furniture Today,
\nWill source furniture from Vietnam, Taiwan
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\nNEW YORK \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Outdoor furniture importer Living Richly International plans to develop a medium-priced indoor line of furniture expected to debut sometime in 2014.<\/p>\n
The company said it will source bedroom, dining room, occasional and youth furniture from Vietnam. It currently has five factories lined up, two Vietnamese owned and three Taiwanese owned.<\/p>\n
Living Richly initially expects to gain nationwide distribution by selling to mass merchants and department stores. It also plans to sell to OEM clients, a segment that could represent a quarter to a third of the indoor business.<\/p>\n
The indoor business could account for as much as half the company’s business in two years, said President Richard Becker.<\/p>\n
He said the company had about $10 million in sales in 2013.<\/p>\n
“We needed something that would ring the registers all year round,” he said, noting that outdoor furniture sells only about four months of the year.<\/p>\n
Becker first went to Vietnam in summer 2001. At the time, he was running a U.S. factory that made high-end bedspreads and pillows. He said he also manufactured cushions for Sunbrella in the United States.<\/p>\n
He launched Living Richly in 2001, selling the U.S. factory. The company has sold outdoor furniture to such retailers as Sears Canada, Target and JCPenney, and to a number of small- to medium-sized retailers, wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers.<\/p>\n
Along with an office and showroom in Manhattan, the company has a Vietnam office and showroom in Ho Chi Minh City, where a cluster of indoor and outdoor furniture producers have plants.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Becker said labor costs that are as much as a third below those in China convinced him Vietnam was a good place to source his indoor line. The five factories will produce a range of styles and categories. Living Richly likely will start out with master bedroom, then move on to dining, occasional, youth bedroom and bunk beds.<\/p>\n
Taking a cue from its outdoor line, the indoor furniture will incorporate mixed-media elements such as water hyacinth. An in-house designer will develop product in conjunction with designers at its source factories.<\/p>\n
At some point, the company will set up warehousing to flow product to smaller customers, but initially is targeting large retail chains and independents looking to do container-direct business.<\/p>\n
*For the latest news on outdoor furnishings, please visit our sister publication’s Web site CasualLiving.com\u00c2\u00a0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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