by HIGH POINT —Nicoletti Home and Calia Italia are now Forest Stewardship Council certified, confirming that the forests used to supply the wood for the upholstery makers frames are managed in a way that preserves their biological diversity, and benefits the lives of local people and workers.
According to Vincent Scocuzza, vice president of sales and marketing, the new FSC certification is part of a growing sustainability initiative that reflects the continued strength and synergies of the brands, which merged a decade ago to become one powerhouse furniture company.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to continuously improve quality, our company already holds both ISO 14001, and ISO 9001 certifications which speaks to the rigorous steps we have in place for total quality management. However, we have come to believe that it is just as vitally important in the operation of our business to make sustainability a major emphasis in all of our production processes,”
the executive relates. “Deforestation and its impact on climate change concern us all and we must do our part. Wood is obviously a major component in our furniture and ensuring that all the wood we incorporate is harvested from well managed forests is just one step in the processes we have underway.”
At a time when the supply chain is so unstable across the entire furniture industry,” Scocuzza believes, “effectively managing resources is more important than ever. It is incumbent upon leaders to align themselves with the right suppliers because synergy and cooperation are truly the name of the game now.”
For this reason, Scocuzza suggests that the Nicoletti Home and Calia Italia brands are particularly well positioned for success not only due to the company’s sheer size and purchasing power in terms of access to raw materials, but also the ability to tap skilled craftspeople and creative talents from across its entire enterprise.
“Both of the companies have had strong relationships and reputations with suppliers of leather, foam and everything else necessary for the manufacture of quality furniture for more than 50 years, and those shared values, combined with the strength of the brands working together as one entity affords us more negotiating power and guarantees from our suppliers. And that, in turn, means our customers can
depend on our factories in challenging times.”
An internationally recognized Italian brand, with extensive experience in quality leather upholstered furniture, Nicoletti Home caters to leading retailers seeking leather motion designs with an emphasis on soft contemporary and transitional styles, combined with exceptional functionality.
Calia Italia is a brand with similar origins (both companies were family run with long artisan traditions) that is beloved by architects and interior designers. As such, it perfectly complements Nicoletti Home’s offerings with a broad selection of contemporary fabric-covered silhouettes.
“Between the two brands, which span the mid- to high-end of the marketplace, we offer a collection of more than 200 frames—giving our customers a vast array of options for unique designs,” Scocuzza explains. “At the Market last week, we found this to be particularly attractive to buyers, and the main driver that led them to visit our new showrooms inside Casa Italia, the new destination for Made in Italy goods in High Point. It was clear that the buyers we saw were not interested in anything that was already out there; they came to Casa Italia looking for unique designs that would set them apart in their marketplaces. We were amazed to see how far out customers pushed themselves in the quest for design and we feel confident that will be the winning strategy moving forward.”
