by Company co-founded by industry veteran Steve Lush will debut 10 styles during the upcoming High Point Market cycle
HIGH POINT — Industry veteran Steve Lush has co-founded a new motion upholstery company that will debut its line here to customers attending September premarket and the October High Point Market.
During the market cycle, 16 West Home will show a total of 10 leather upholstery groups, including eight featuring motion sofa, loveseat and chair combinations. Two of the eight groups have sectionals, and another two standalone groups offer sectionals.
With sofas in top-grain leather retailing at $1,999 and from $1,699 to $1,799 in leather match, the groups also feature zero-gravity P3 functionality with power seats, power headrests and power lumbar support, standard on all models.
They also feature coil seat spring construction with pocketed coils inside the seat cushion, which is all surrounded by high-density foam and a layer of memory foam on that.
“It is a comfortable seat, but most of all it is very durable and it holds its shape very well over time,” Lush said of the construction. “It does make a difference.”
Lush, who was most recently president of sales of North and South America at Digio Leather, also previously worked as president at Kuka Home North America, and was president of Hooker case goods and president of Robb & Stucky.
Working with a silent partner in the business, he said, he received encouragement to start his own company from retail customers he has known for years.
“When I left Digio, I hit the ground running,” he said of his May departure from the company, adding, “I had sort of a built-in customer base to begin with.”
The name comes from a furniture retail business his family started in 1893 and operated for more than 100 years that was located at 16 West St. in Galeton, Pennsylvania.
“I grew up in the business and worked there for eight years,” Lush said, noting that he and his father eventually sold the business. “It is a nod to family history.”
The line is produced in Thailand, where the company is working with a factory Lush described as “a beautiful state-of-the-art facility with a lot of capacity.” He also said he is working with management at the factory that are “people I have known for a lot of years. They are great partners.”
As the importer of record, Lush said, the company also has priced the line to include tariffs.
“Our strategy has been to offer delivered pricing right to the dealer’s door, including all freight and tariffs,” he said. “We offer all-in pricing. This is really important to quite a few dealers right now. They don’t want to bear the entire risk of the tariffs, so I take it on.”
“I am obviously a low-overhead business, so I can absorb quite a bit of the tariff and not have to pass the entire amount on,” he added.
Orders taken on the road thus far are already in production, Lush said, noting that the products will be shipped container direct from the factory. Customers also can mix two models in two covers each.
At market, the new line will be shown in Space 134 of Centers of High Point at Hamilton.
