Linwood Re-Thinks Strategy

April 12, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on April 13, 2012

Case goods manufacturer Linwood Furniture comes to High Point Furniture Market highlighting its custom capabilities, and renewing its emphasis on retail customers.

The privately held company is restructuring under voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in order to realign its business model to focus on residential furniture, according to Jeff Schwall, who was named president of Linwood, Lexington, N.C., as part of the reorganization currently underway. Schwall, formerly executive vice president of sales and marketing, is credited with re-building and reinvigorating the company's sales force over the past year. He reports to Mike Mebane, chief executive officer.

"Simply put, to maintain efficiency in our 500,000-square-foot plant during the economic downturn of the past three years, Linwood made a concerted push into the hospitality business, which by its nature, demands high-volume production of low-cost product," Schwall says. "Unfortunately, we moved too far into this area, too quickly, and were not able to effectively service our growing dealer base of residential furniture customers with the quality product that has always set Linwood apart."

As part of its re-commitment to its residential furniture business, Linwood will show off newly refined product lines featuring the high-quality, bench-made, solid wood furniture, customizable by finish, for which the company is known. Thanks to the realigned strategy, the product line this Market will return to a four- to six-week delivery cycle.

Chief among the introductions in the bedroom category is the Newport Collection, featuring modular components that can be stacked, banked, or arranged to accommodate media, clothes storage and more, in soft transitional design.

The company is also following up its move into the customizable accents category with a dozen new additions to its Modern Bungalow Collection, available in 16 stock paint colors plus more than 500, special-order, custom-formulated colors. All of the decorative and functional designs, including occasional tables, media consoles and storage pieces, are cabinet-grade and domestically produced.

The new products will be featured in Linwood€™s High Point showroom, Market Square, spaces 307 and 309.

Linwood also will introduce in an adjacent showroom Basics by Linwood, a new division incorporating imported components and what Schwall calls "best practices in global manufacturing." Initially focused on production of a custom-color, casual dining program, Basics features globally sourced components coupled with American craftsmanship.

"Our new, customizable casual dining program is unique in the marketplace because its components are assembled to order," Schwall describes. "You can choose from multiple table styles and chair styles, and 16 in-stock, painted finishes, six wood stain finishes, or our Kaleidoscope Collection of more than 500, custom-formulated, special-order colors to create the ideal look, whether it be traditional, contemporary or transitional."

With solid maple tabletops sourced in North America, and components sourced from around the globe, the products are assembled and finished in Linwood's Lexington, N.C., facility, and delivered to retailers within six weeks.

Schwall believes the time is right this Spring for both the renewed emphasis on cabinet-grade, made-in-America product aimed at the middle to upper-middle consumer, as well as the blended strategy that Basics represents.

"We know from the sheer volume of inquiries to our Web site, that the American consumer wants the product that Linwood is building," he said. "With the reorganization, and our investors staying the course, we are ideally positioned to meet this demand. Simply put, the consumer is ready, and we are ready to commit to delivering our products on a four- to six-week cycle again. All we need now is the support of the retailers shopping Market."