Star Debuts Microfibres Task Seating Fabric
January 1, 2010
Chicago — Microfibres Inc., the largest producer of flock fabrics in the world, quietly entered the contract seating fabric business about a year and a half ago.
Star Quality Office Furniture Mfg., Ltd. of Ontario, Calif., introduced its first line of Microfibres task seating at NeoCon this year for the office and hospitality trades. Star is offering nine 'Fairview' fabrics in Antron® nylon from Microfibres.
"We offer this seating at $200-$300 per task chair through office dealers," said John Hendrix, Star Quality's vice president of sales.
Hendrix believes the company can make an impact selling to the office segment. "More hours are being spent in front of the computer, especially at home. This makes ergonomics and comfort that much more important in task seating."
Of Star's 120 SKUs, 40 are provided by Momentum. "Momentum offers a diversity of styles which the designer likes but Microfibres can be bigger volume in a few numbers," Hendrix said.
Star has seen its business stabilize and "the consumer chair business is as soft as the corporate business," he said.
However Star has not had to layoff any employees. "The big chair suppliers took a big hit but we haven't."
Star buys its chair components off-shore, mostly in Taiwan, Italy and China and imports the fabric to the States to finish the item. F&FI
Star Quality Office Furniture Mfg., Ltd. of Ontario, Calif., introduced its first line of Microfibres task seating at NeoCon this year for the office and hospitality trades. Star is offering nine 'Fairview' fabrics in Antron® nylon from Microfibres.
"We offer this seating at $200-$300 per task chair through office dealers," said John Hendrix, Star Quality's vice president of sales.
Hendrix believes the company can make an impact selling to the office segment. "More hours are being spent in front of the computer, especially at home. This makes ergonomics and comfort that much more important in task seating."
Of Star's 120 SKUs, 40 are provided by Momentum. "Momentum offers a diversity of styles which the designer likes but Microfibres can be bigger volume in a few numbers," Hendrix said.
Star has seen its business stabilize and "the consumer chair business is as soft as the corporate business," he said.
However Star has not had to layoff any employees. "The big chair suppliers took a big hit but we haven't."
Star buys its chair components off-shore, mostly in Taiwan, Italy and China and imports the fabric to the States to finish the item. F&FI
