Furniture News introduced the Kleinhaus brand to readers back in September. Central to its offer was Sherwood, an attractive mix of oak and oak veneers with real depth, spanning almost every room of the house with a roster of 92 models – all with two choices of handle. Furniture News’ Paul Farley revisited the brand later in the year, stopping by Whisby Garden Centre, near Lincoln, to see the supplier’s biggest display yet …
Mark Klein, CEO of Kleinhaus’ purveyor MK Imports UK, knows he has a strong offering in Sherwood, a vast light oak collection that is quickly finding stockists across the UK. At the time of writing, Mark is set to introduce two further ranges: Bridge, a cabinet range featuring curved tops that appear to ‘float’ above the carcass; and Curve, an occasional lounge storage and dining collection.
While Kleinhaus is now being sold through two well-established agents, Mark continues to carry out the bulk of the work himself. “I cold-called in at 28 furniture stores on a recent trip around the country,” he says, “and converted an impressive six of these. While I’m not moving too fast – I want to make sure we can support the accounts we’ve got with the stock we have – I have no doubt of the appeal of Kleinhaus.”
The theory behind the initial Sherwood offering, says Mark, was to present independent retailers with a simple yet comprehensive proposition. “When you walk into a shop, first impressions count – and Sherwood certainly presents a uniform look,” he says. “Some retailers give people too much choice, and this can actually confuse customers. If you want your offer to look sharp, you’ve got to keep it clear – at the same time presenting a strong corporate image that is carried through in the PoS. Kleinhaus achieves this.”
Mark is vocal on the approaches retailers should take to achieve maximum sell – including regularly moving and re-dressing the ranges (conveniently keeping sales staff active). In terms of product communication, Sherwood is well defined by branded swing tags and furniture polish accompaniments, a pattern Mark plans to roll out across his future releases.
Mark also discusses a new range of bonded leather chairs on oak legs, available in four colours – wine, distressed chocolate, tan or ivory – in two styles. He also mentions two designs of jacquard fabric chairs – overall, MK Imports UK offers a choice of 82 UK-made fabric-upholstered oak-leg chairs. These are all available now.
MK Imports UK is taking a number of promising approaches to trading, and it will be interesting to watch this develop over the year.
