aspenhome™ To Lauch First Full Line Collection In Las Vegas

Furniture World Magazine

aspenhome™ will launch its first full line home collection at the July Las Vegas market. Barolo, a 100+ piece introduction, includes complete home office, home entertainment, bedroom, dining room, occasional and signature leather. This introduction will signal the completion of phase one of aspenhome’s new merchandising strategy first initiated in October 2004 when leather was introduced as the first product extension to complement the home office and home entertainment divisions of Aspen Furniture. Until then, Aspen Furniture’s import division had established its reputation and dealer base primarily as a home office and home entertainment import specialist, focused on innovative function and value with quick delivery process out of China. “The decision to expand the company into a full line furniture provider was made almost three years ago,” according to Bill Colegrove, general manager of aspenhome. “aspenhome for all rooms in the home was created because our dealers were encouraging us to move into categories beyond home office and home entertainment. They were asking us to provide more fun, fashionable, and functional furniture throughout the house in combination with our “easy to do business” philosophy. In response to our customers, both large and small alike, the thought of new product categories seemed like a natural evolution for our company. “While the new strategy made sense, ‘behind the scenes’ preparation had to be started well in advance of the new merchandising and marketing plan in order to make the transition successful,” said Colegrove. “Our import division has been working around the clock to insure that the same quality and reliability that exist for our current products would be consistently delivered for these new categories as well,” he continued. “October, 2004 marked the first product extensions into leather, followed in April 2005 when two bedroom groups were introduced as extensions to two successful office and entertainment groups, Napa and Skyline Collections,” said Jena Hall, vice president of marketing, bedroom and dining. “Now, eighteen months later, we have completed phase I of the plan with three very important steps: the launch of the new aspenhome brand, the introduction of the dining category and lastly, a new collection, Barolo, launched in its entirety, all at one time. This is an enormous achievement and represents a major shift in our entire product introduction and future product cycles. “Previously, we had introduced a new collection look by testing the market with a new home office style, and then waited to see how it was received. If it was successful, we would then expand into other areas of home office and then into home entertainment. This was pragmatic, but in today’s highly competitive and aggressive importing world, it is simply not fast enough to maintain our leadership position and to grow the business,” Hall added. “We are not afraid now to make a major commitment to an entire collection because we have proven that we can sell and deliver what we show.” “The stakes have been raised over the last few years, and with more and more domestic companies joining the ranks of importing, we needed to further define our uniqueness in both product and process,” said Colegrove. “We knew we needed to step out of our secure past and push into the more responsive pace of today’s market. In staying true to our vision, we have elected to take a leadership position in not only fulfillment processes, but also in fashion, function, and value-added furniture. The exciting Barolo Collection may represent our ‘rite of passage’ from primarily a category player into the realms of full line provider,” concludes Colegrove. aspenhome™ has evolved over the past 27 years from a small family owned home entertainment business based in Phoenix to a full line furniture company specializing in thoughtfully designed innovative products for the way people work, play and relax at home. Recognized as a resource for functional family furniture, the aspenhome‘ collection includes bedroom, dining, home office, home entertainment, stationary and motion leather seating, and occasional furnishings. aspenhome‘ is distributed by Furniture Values International, LLC and headquartered in Phoenix, AZ.