Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Bellini Modern Living Partners with Normandin for Efficient Transport
April 12,
2023 by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Industry 
Bellini Modern Living, a leading distributor of modern Italian furniture, has partnered with Normandin Transit to speed its shipments directly to its U.S. retailers. Normandin Transit is a firm offering Truck Load and LTL solutions specializing in shipping residential and commercial furniture to the U.S., with a fleet of 300 trucks, 825 trailers and 450 employees.
Normandin Transit Inc. is part of TFI International, one of the largest transport and logistics providers in North America with over 25,800 employees.
According to Hossein Azimi, chief executive officer of Bellini Modern Living, the move will immediately reduce delivery lead times to dealers to 8 to 10 working days or less.
Until now, the company—long known for a business model that pairs modern design flair with an industry leading in-stock position of made in Italy goods—has offered quick delivery from its base in Toronto to a North Carolina warehouse from which products were then dispersed to dealers across the U.S.
“The advantage to this new partnership is that Normandin will take shipments directly from their terminal in Canada to our dealers, with no need for an additional stop or warehouse time in North Carolina. This eliminates additional handling of the furniture prior to arrival at its destination,” Azimi said.
“Our dealers will also be excited to learn that this new partnership enables us to offer very aggressive and competitive rates by zone,” noted Frederik Winther, vice president of sales at Bellini Modern Living.
“In fact, these rates are the lowest we’ve ever been able to offer. All rates are based on a percentage of the invoice as low as 8% and include fuel surcharges. All custom brokerage fees will continue to be handled by our office as has been Bellini’s practice all along. Our goal is to make the paperwork process so seamless that dealers often don’t realize they are dealing with a Canadian supplier.”
The deal with Normandin is the culmination of a months-long search for a new logistics solution. “Our challenge for the past year-and-a-half has been that despite our vast inventory in Toronto, which we ship in 48 hours or less from Canada with full trailers between Toronto and the warehouse in North Carolina up to four times per week, sometimes customers didn’t see the furniture for up to four to six weeks.”
“The American transport companies simply haven’t had enough drivers and while they are getting more organized post-pandemic, we can’t rely on that. Normandin has an excellent track record and known for their great service, and we anticipate a smooth transition for all concerned.”