Lincolnshire’s Classic Furniture continues to move onwards and upwards with news of a significant warehouse expansion ahead of a ramping-up of operations from 2017, discovers Furniture News …
Hot on the heels of show appearances in Manchester and Dublin – plus an encouraging reception at AIS’ members-only show in September, Minerva's event in October and an at-home show earlier this month – Classic Furniture is lining up its proposition for the 2017 January Furniture Show.
“We’ve spent much of this year laying the groundwork for expansion,” reveals director Andy Rippin, “and we can’t wait for everything to fall into place.”
When Furniture News catches up with Andy, he is busy supervising the incorporation of a 50,000 sqft facility adjacent to Classic’s Binbrook headquarters. The added space will principally be used as a warehouse, providing the supplier with the extra capacity it requires for the coming year, as well as a home for its marketing and product development offices.
“We needed somewhere fast,” says Andy, “and this opportunity came up at the right time.” Whilst remaining tight-lipped about the bulk of the developments in the pipeline, Andy offers a glimpse of the product diversification ahead.
“We’re looking at increased stock levels, further ranges and new product lines,” he says, “expanding our range to run alongside our extensive cabinet offer. We’re broadening our use of materials, fusing the likes of glass, concrete and metal with timber to offer something distinctly new and upmarket.”
Andy also reveals that Classic is taking a more flexible approach to upholstered dining chairs to give the consumer more choice and a more involved buying process – more fabrics, leathers and finishes mean a better buying experience for the customer. There are also various new colours in development across Classic’s cabinet collections.
With the company’s ambitions placing extra demand on the operation, the company has taken on new sales and warehouse staff, at the same time as developing plans to streamline fulfilment.
To offset the possible complications this growth might bring, the company has looked long and hard at refining its current offer, and has cleared several of its weaker lines to make way for a simpler portfolio that promises to benefit all involved.
“Last month, we relaunched our popular, entry-level Portland range,” offers Andy by way of example. “Previously, we stocked around seven ranges that offered that mix of painted furniture and wooden tops so popular right now – from white and grey painted collections to our Aspen oak range, we had a huge variety of products tying up our space and marketing potential, all essentially meeting the same demand.”
Now its stockist base embraces an increasing number of chains, nationals and buying group members, Classic has taken steps to further refine its operations – a simpler portfolio among them.
“We’ve developed Portland to offer a one-size-fits-all solution,” says Andy. It’s now such an easy system to understand and, consequently, sell.”
Portland bedroom now consists of around 15 pieces, painted white, cream, or stone, or available in natural oak. One handle option comes as standard (depending on whether the retailer opts for a painted or natural finish) but two more are available. There’s also the complementary Portland dining, which is available in natural oak, or a stone painted version.
“We’ve developed Portland to offer a one-size-fits-all solution – it’s now such an easy system to understand and, consequently, sell”
“Portland now offers customers a raft of options within one range,” says Andy. “They might opt for a painted table with oak chairs, or purchase several oak pieces to support a stand-out painted model. The concept is set to get even better in the future – we have the potential to add more colours. And, crucially, the pricing is the same no matter the selection.”
Having worked on Portland – “just the first step in the refinement of our portfolio” – for most of the year, Andy is looking forward to seeing how it is received now stocks are in and orders are up and running. Buoyed by good feedback from the Manchester Furniture Show and Dublin’s IFHS, he’s confident that the concept – illustrated in a new 12-page catalogue – will go down well with retailers across the country.
