Timberlake Up In The Air

January 22, 2006  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on January 2006 by Powell Slaughter

A pioneering collection in furniture licensing -- The World of Bob Timberlake at Lexington Home Brands -- is at a crossroads.

Lexington closed the plant producing Timberlake's top-end goods in its namesake headquarters city in December. The artist agreed to offshore sourcing for Studio Traditions, an entry-level collection under the license, a year-and-a-half ago; and for Salt Aire, Lexington's Timberlake introduction from October market.

Production of the Timberlake domestic line has idled since December. For now, stockpiled inventory is being sold.

The future of the relationship is cloudy, though.

"In the short term, we've accepted the fact that our relationship with Lexington is not working, so our company has made some strategic decisions to move in a different direction," said Dan Timberlake, chief operating officer and general counsel of Bob Timberlake Inc., the umbrella company operating the artist's licensing operation and business ventures.

He added that a major announcement regarding Timberlake's licensing program should be made by the April High Point market.

Lexington CEO Bob Stec said that's news to him, and that Lexington and Timberlake haven't had any discussions in a couple of months.

"We came to the agreement that the original product will be made domestically, and the new product will be imported," Stec said Monday, adding that Lexington is still seeking domestic production for Timberlake and that the company has a legally binding agreement to supply Timberlake-licensed case goods and upholstery. "There's no jeopardy of us not making the original line domestically."