Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Braxton Culler Expands into Nine Territories and Freight Program
April 11,
2024 by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Industry 
Braxton Culler, a custom house serving the needs of retailers and designers with upholstery, wood, wicker and rattan furniture, is making a national sales push with the addition of nine new sales territories, ten new sales reps and a guaranteed freight rate program to support the program.
Long known for a devoted customer base East of the Mississippi, the domestic manufacturer is now achieving national distribution under the sales leadership of Matt Sorensen, senior vice president of sales (a dual role he also holds at parent company Classic Home).
Since assuming the dual sales role with the Braxton Culler division earlier this year, Sorensen has been making strategic sales hires in key markets across the country, establishing a nationwide network of experienced reps to more effectively service customers across the U.S. The sales force now encompasses a total of 23 territories from coast to coast.
“Knowledgeable sales professionals have never been in higher demand in our industry,” said Donnie Leslie, senior vice president of operations at Braxton Culler, “and we are very excited about the caliber of sales representatives Matt has assembled to service our customers. All of them are well known and well-respected by retailers in their regions and all are also experts in the custom furniture business.”
As part of the expansion, Braxton Culler has also created a guaranteed freight program to address logistics costs for traditional furniture retailers of all sizes, from boutiques and small independents to multi-store chains, as well as its substantial following of design clients.
“There are multiple upholstery companies that one can buy from, and our goal since Classic Home acquired Braxton Culler has been to eliminate any hurdles that customers may encounter,” Sorensen said. “At the top of the list, freight is a huge hurdle in the industry today, and one of the first things buyers and designers look at when they are creating a line-up or planning a project.”
Braxton Culler has negotiated guaranteed freight rates with freight specialists Brooks and Sun Belt to support the national distribution push and to give customers options depending on where they are located in the country. For designers, the company has secured guaranteed rates with RPM, a final mile delivery service that can handle deliveries to homes, as well as project installs depending on the designer’s needs.
“We can now service every customer, from designers and single-store furniture owners to any type of mass business with an accurate quote on freight so they know with absolute certainty what a piece will cost to land,” Sorensen said. “For the first time in Braxton Culler’s nearly 50 years in business, this Market, everybody, no matter where they are in the country, has the opportunity to floor an amazing, quality product that continues to be hand-built with care in North Carolina.”