Duralee Eyes $100 Million Sales by Catering to Interior Designers
June 27, 2005
BAY SHORE, New York — Duralee Fabrics Ltd. expects to hit the $100 million sales mark by 2007 by catering to residential and contract interior designers, according to Len Silberman, founder and CEO of this aggressive fabric wholesaler and furniture manufacturer.
"The designer has changed the world. They can make or break a marriage based on the colors they select. If the designer likes what you do, they stay with you," he said.
It took Duralee 50 years to achieve $50 million in sales but it may take only five years to achieve the $100 million goal, Silberman explained.
Duralee recently purchased a 180,000 square foot facility on 35 acres in Morgantown, North Carolina, to house its furniture manufacturing. After filling up its expanded 110,000 square foot Bay Shore headquarters with inventory and personnel, the company found it had "run out of parking." Ultimately, two thirds of the newly-purchased building will also contain fabric shipping and inventory operations, Silberman said.
"We have grown a lot, just since 1998 when I became president," said Marty Rosenberger, who started in the Duralee warehouse in 1961, went into sales where he built the West Coast operation over a 12-year period, and moved back to Bay Shore as vice president of the company in 1995. "We've gotten organized and upgraded with a huge expansion in space, inventory and customer service," he said.
Previously, Duralee Fine Furniture, a line with 500 upholstered styles and occasional furniture, subcontracted production. Now, the furniture is manufactured in-house. "We need more control over production of furniture to insure the designer gets what they want from us," said Silberman. Furniture now accounts for $2 million in sales as a separate business and Silberman projects a total of $10 million by 2007. But the furniture is not a vehicle for the sale of Duralee Fabrics, as the designer can choose any fabric they want on the furniture, Duralee or COM, he insisted.
All divisions of Duralee, from contract fabrics to fine furniture, turned in double digit sales gains last year and 2005 should be no different, the spry octogenarian predicted.
A commensurate expansion of Duralee's 11 corporate showrooms and 20 satellite showrooms displaying Duralee Fine Furniture has also taken place to make them more designer friendly. For example, the Atlanta showroom expanded from 2,700 square feet to 5,000 square feet. Similar expansions took place in Dallas and Boston.
With the hiring of Robin Gordon as director of marketing 18 months ago and the recent addition of her assistant Lisa Rivera, Duralee has made a major commitment to marketing and merchandising. Under Gordon's direction, Duralee has created new graphics and produced seven new books for its Pavilion brand of indoor/outdoor fabrics in acrylic, olefin and polyester fibers. "Four thousand sets of these books will form part of a new section of the designer's library," Gordon said. "It's a tribute to the fact that Duralee outdoor fabric is no longer just polka dots, plaids and stripes."
The Pavilion brand has been revamped and upgraded along with Highland Court, the luxury brand Duralee launched in 2001.
Gordon's next job is to replicate Duralee's e-commerce site for its contract division and for Highland Court. "We started last January with our residential e-commerce site and today we have 1,400 users," she said.
On another front, Gordon said that "home furnishings copies apparel fashion but sometimes apparel follows home furnishings. There used to be two years of lead time between the two markets but today, there is no difference."
Since most of what Duralee sells is designed in-house or at least re-colored, the Duralee design department in New York City ballooned from one designer to seven with an adjunct three person CAD department, while its space requirements have quadrupled.
Silberman thinks his company's vigorous growth is directly tied to its corporate philosophy: everyone is treated like family at the company and even the customers get hugs from Duralee staff as often as possible. "We wouldn't have made it without the help of all of our associates," he said. "To make the world more beautiful, you can't do it without staff."
That staff includes a national sales manager, six regional managers and 40 fulltime Duralee sales representatives in the field (except for the Denver rep who is independent).
The Techstyle contract division, with Gary Rosenthal as national sales manager and Susan Spalding as sales manager, is a separate group of 20 independent contract sales agents.
"The designer has changed the world. They can make or break a marriage based on the colors they select. If the designer likes what you do, they stay with you," he said.
It took Duralee 50 years to achieve $50 million in sales but it may take only five years to achieve the $100 million goal, Silberman explained.
Duralee recently purchased a 180,000 square foot facility on 35 acres in Morgantown, North Carolina, to house its furniture manufacturing. After filling up its expanded 110,000 square foot Bay Shore headquarters with inventory and personnel, the company found it had "run out of parking." Ultimately, two thirds of the newly-purchased building will also contain fabric shipping and inventory operations, Silberman said.
"We have grown a lot, just since 1998 when I became president," said Marty Rosenberger, who started in the Duralee warehouse in 1961, went into sales where he built the West Coast operation over a 12-year period, and moved back to Bay Shore as vice president of the company in 1995. "We've gotten organized and upgraded with a huge expansion in space, inventory and customer service," he said.
Previously, Duralee Fine Furniture, a line with 500 upholstered styles and occasional furniture, subcontracted production. Now, the furniture is manufactured in-house. "We need more control over production of furniture to insure the designer gets what they want from us," said Silberman. Furniture now accounts for $2 million in sales as a separate business and Silberman projects a total of $10 million by 2007. But the furniture is not a vehicle for the sale of Duralee Fabrics, as the designer can choose any fabric they want on the furniture, Duralee or COM, he insisted.
All divisions of Duralee, from contract fabrics to fine furniture, turned in double digit sales gains last year and 2005 should be no different, the spry octogenarian predicted.
A commensurate expansion of Duralee's 11 corporate showrooms and 20 satellite showrooms displaying Duralee Fine Furniture has also taken place to make them more designer friendly. For example, the Atlanta showroom expanded from 2,700 square feet to 5,000 square feet. Similar expansions took place in Dallas and Boston.
With the hiring of Robin Gordon as director of marketing 18 months ago and the recent addition of her assistant Lisa Rivera, Duralee has made a major commitment to marketing and merchandising. Under Gordon's direction, Duralee has created new graphics and produced seven new books for its Pavilion brand of indoor/outdoor fabrics in acrylic, olefin and polyester fibers. "Four thousand sets of these books will form part of a new section of the designer's library," Gordon said. "It's a tribute to the fact that Duralee outdoor fabric is no longer just polka dots, plaids and stripes."
The Pavilion brand has been revamped and upgraded along with Highland Court, the luxury brand Duralee launched in 2001.
Gordon's next job is to replicate Duralee's e-commerce site for its contract division and for Highland Court. "We started last January with our residential e-commerce site and today we have 1,400 users," she said.
On another front, Gordon said that "home furnishings copies apparel fashion but sometimes apparel follows home furnishings. There used to be two years of lead time between the two markets but today, there is no difference."
Since most of what Duralee sells is designed in-house or at least re-colored, the Duralee design department in New York City ballooned from one designer to seven with an adjunct three person CAD department, while its space requirements have quadrupled.
Silberman thinks his company's vigorous growth is directly tied to its corporate philosophy: everyone is treated like family at the company and even the customers get hugs from Duralee staff as often as possible. "We wouldn't have made it without the help of all of our associates," he said. "To make the world more beautiful, you can't do it without staff."
That staff includes a national sales manager, six regional managers and 40 fulltime Duralee sales representatives in the field (except for the Denver rep who is independent).
The Techstyle contract division, with Gary Rosenthal as national sales manager and Susan Spalding as sales manager, is a separate group of 20 independent contract sales agents.
