Furniture Executive Chris Pelcher Creates New Domestic Case Goods Company, Lineage Furniture
Furniture World News Desk on
5/26/2021
Chris Pelcher, former Executive Vice President, General Manager & Chief Merchandising officer for Art Van, Wolf and Levin Furniture will be debuting his new case-goods line, Lineage Furniture at the upcoming High Point Market June 3rd through the 8th 2021.
Lineage will launch with 8 domestically made all wood master bedroom collections: The bedrooms are crafted from American Appalachian hardwoods like Maple, Oak and Birch. Solid wood Queen Beds (Headboard-Footboard & Rails) will start at under $599. Queen Bed, Dresser and Mirror packages starting under $1499. “The goal was to position the line at or near landed pricing for higher end Vietnamese or Indonesian bedrooms and well under other US made goods. The big advantage with Lineage is it’s made in the USA and we have production availability for the quantities retailers need now” says Pelcher.
Of the 8 new collections, 5 groups will come out of Lineage’s Northeast production facility and 3 will come out of its Midwest factory. The Northeast goods will feature generous 66” x 40” dressers, 56-60” high headboards, contrasted English dovetail drawer boxes, German made full extension side glides and a proprietary new mattress support system. In addition to this, Lineage will be offering what they call “Flex Finishing” which will allow the retailer to select their particular water-based finish. “Unlike product coming from Asia or elsewhere you are typically stuck with the finish they are offering. What I want to give the retailer are choices. Lineage will allow them fine tune their stocking program “says Pelcher. The products coming from the Midwest will be in the Lineage ELITE program. These products are all hand built by Amish and Mennonite craftsman. They include all of the elevated features noted above, plus, will have a selection of best-selling special-order colors available.
Pelcher is leveraging his 30+ years of furniture retail experience and 20+ years of domestic and overseas product development experience to put forth a selection of American made bedrooms he feels extremely confident in. “They are timeless, on trend and will satisfy an extremely wide range of consumers” he says. “I’ve been lucky in my career to not only have deep knowledge in the furniture retail space but also in furniture product development with decades of experience in Asia and here in the US. Over the years I have developed a well-rounded sense of the what the retail buyer needs and what the end customer wants and how to build product to satisfy both”, Pelcher says.
Since March of 2020 Pelcher, through his Furniture Insights Consulting Group, has worked with several Top 100 retailers and suppliers and says he has seen first-hand the impact the supply chain & ocean freight challenges have had on retailers and the furniture business overall.
“The events of the last 14 months have and will leave retailers scarred. Folks are paying over $10,000 for a container from Vietnam right now. Couple that with inconsistent production availability and you have quite an unfortunate situation. What Lineage Furniture has created is a “safe harbor” for retailers. An all wood, domestic case-goods supplier that you can depend on. Great products and fantastic quality at a fair price that will ship & sell!”
Pelcher’s plan is to give retailers another arrow in its quiver when it comes to master bedrooms. The category, like others over the last 12+ months, has been severely impacted by major overseas supply chain issues, multiple and compounded price increases, raw material shortages and container rates that are in some cases are 3-4 times what they were last year at this time. All of this leading to product insecurity and significant instability in the furniture supply chain.
According to Pelcher, not only has Lineage put together a great line-up of product but was also able to put together a best-in-class sales team.
“Having been a retailer I’ve had a front row seat to see who the best sales professionals are, and when the time, came, I was humbled that these great folks agreed join us” he says. According to Pelcher, combined, the Lineage sales team has over 100+ years of furniture experience”
“The Northeast and Midwest have long legacies of high-quality furniture craftsmanship; we are leaning into that” says Pelcher. “It’s a privilege to be able to tap into the talent and resources that reside in our own country” he says.
Lineage Furniture will show from June 5th through the 8th at 108-110 Martin Luther King Blvd, 2nd Floor (around the corner from Synergy)
High Point NC 12345. Lineagefurniture.com