by Soft launch at April market will include 70 SKUs across categories including home office, home entertainment, dining, bedroom and more
HIGH POINT — Buyers visiting the Martin Furniture showroom this market will catch a glimpse of products in its new mass merchants division that it formed with the hiring of segment expert Kurt Berlin last September.
At its showroom in Space 303 of Martin on Green, the company will show 70 new pieces not only in its core home office, home entertainment and dining categories, but also in bedroom along with accent/occasional tables, fireplace consoles, storage consoles, room dividers and room organizers.
The target audience for these new products include mass merchants such as Costco, Sam’s and BJ’s Wholesale Club as well as other large retailers such as Walmart and Target.
Berlin has 23 years of industry experience, working in product design and development roles with companies such as Bush Furniture, True Innovations, Office Star Products and Whalen Furniture. In these positions, he has worked with the aforementioned retailers and others including Staple’s, Office Depot, Wayfair, Amazon, HomeGoods, Aaron’s, Best Buy and more.
By bringing Berlin on board, Martin Furniture has an opportunity to work more closely with the mass merchants segment where Berlin has experience and thus develop a category that represents a significant growth opportunity for the company.
At Martin, Berlin said he is working with long-time industry veteran Gustavo Velez, a former colleague at Whalen who is now focused on the sourcing side of the business at Martin.
“He basically set up all the import side of Whalen for 18 years overseas and is now on board here,” Berlin said. “He and I had a really good working relationship at Whalen, and we understand the mass merchant side of the business. He is going to be helping me with the sourcing side of the business, and I am going to be focused on the product development and sales side of things. We are going to really be driving it.”
With a larger launch plus an introduction of a brand name planned for the October market, the company is using this coming week as a soft launch for the segment. In addition to getting retailer input, it also hopes to get some orders and commitments on some of the first items.
In introducing the new line, Berlin said the company is trying to build on the strengths of the Martin product portfolio.
“We are trying to leverage the great stuff that Martin has done and offer it at a value and in higher volume for our mass retailer customers,” he said. “As they peruse the showroom in High Point, obviously they will be seeing some higher-end product that has been developed over the years that has done very well for Martin. But there also will be a section of the showroom that will be focused on those mass retailers. And those products will be offered with a similar style and a similar aesthetic but can be offered more at a value at higher volume rates for the bigger mass retailers.”
There also will be some key differences.
Currently the company’s home office, home entertainment and dining collections are sourced in Vietnam and fully assembled featuring veneered and solid wood construction.
The new product segment also will be sourced in Vietnam as well as Malaysia and India, and featuring a mix of veneers and laminates including paper and melamine.
While some aspects of the product will be fully assembled, part of the mix is designed to be assembled by the consumer without tools.
Berlin said that products in the new line are not targeted to retail in the lowest price points of below $100. However, he said they will fall in the range of $199 to $399, with some categories such as bedroom and dining coming in a little higher.
It also will be priced significantly below the regular Martin line. For example, a writing desk in the regular Martin line that retails from $699 to $799 could retail from $199 to $249 in the new mass merchants line.
“We are definitely going to be more at that value, but we are not going to be the player that is in that OPP (opening price point),” he said. “We don’t want to diminish what Martin has already created for their brand. We want to elevate it a little bit.”
He noted that the product likely will start shipping sometime later this year, allowing brick-and-mortar retailers to put this on their floor sometime in the fourth quarter.
