VALENCIA, Calif. — Armen Living is marking the fifth anniversary of its entree into the outdoor category at Casual Market Atlanta, Sept. 16-19, in AmericasMart showroom B-1-6-A2.
“I have great pride in our company’s legacy, and that in these ever-changing and challenging times, we are able to continue to design and manufacture original indoor and outdoor designs that are fashion-forward and that are affordably priced, for our trade clients to sell and for today’s savvy consumer to enjoy,” said Kevin Kevonian, president, Armen Living.
Serena Martin of 24/7 Creative Agency recently spoke with Kevonian and the Armen Living team about their anniversary, why outdoor is so important to the company and what buyers can expect at Casual Market Atlanta.
What drove you to enter the outdoor category?
Kevonian: When we first started offering outdoor furniture in 2019, we began with stocking sets that were off the shelf. As our product assortment expanded and our sales and buyer interest grew, we started offering more living sets, lounge furniture and casual outdoor dining. Then we added a wide selection of bar stools in a range of finishes, materials and styles, which are still some of our bestselling outdoor designs to this day. One of the biggest shifts was during the pandemic as more families needed to find ways to stay sane and found they needed additional space outdoors. This really increased our company’s sales and demand we saw for indoor-outdoor living. Also with our company being based in Southern California, we live outdoors year round, so this type of lifestyle, we wanted to help bring this type of lifestyle to our customers
How has the outdoor division grown over the past five years?
Holly Lightfoot, director of product development: Our expansion in the wholesale casual market has grown exponentially over the last five years. Especially in our outdoor category which we now design 70% completely in-house. With having a wide range of outdoor furniture collections, in every style, shape and size, this allows buyers to personalize their collection and to make an impact with a minimal investment.
What product categories do you offer?
Kevonian: Armen Living offers more than 300 SKUs in our outdoor category, including outdoor lounge, living, dining, bar and occasional styles that are available in a wide selection of finishes, colors and materials. We expanded into a new category with outdoor planters, and this category continues to receive a great response from our retailers and designer clients. We have expanded into a larger outdoor accent category with 15 new outdoor accent tables, stools that we are launching at the Casual Market in September, and will show at High Point Market in October.
What is Armen Living’s outdoor aesthetic?
Reb Nicholson, national sales manager: With more than 50 outdoor collections in our outdoor category, we offer a wide range of design styles from transitional to traditional, contemporary and midcentury modern. We also offer a variety of outdoor weave colors and frame finishes, wood and aluminum frames, all with ultra-plush outdoor cushions. We also have new neutral-colored weaves, warm neutral wood finishes, to darker aluminum frames for a more masculine look, that are getting lots of attention from retailers, designers and stagers alike. It is also a bonus to our dealers that we design so much of our inventory in-house, that helps when they want something a bit different from what they are seeing in the other marketplaces.
How do you stay competitive with product development?
Lightfoot: One of the biggest priorities when I came on board was to help us stand out from the crowd, and I have worked over the last nine months to shift our product development. There is a big demand from our retailers, big-box stores, private-label and container clients for original designs. There is also a significant demand from our designer clients who want a look that seamlessly blends stylish indoor-outdoor living spaces with the same quality, durability, performance and extreme comfort of our indoor furniture.
What can retailers expect from you at Casual Market Atlanta?
Lightfoot: We have 20 new outdoor collections that we are debuting at the upcoming Casual Market in Atlanta, and we are excited to celebrate our fifth anniversary in our showroom B-1-6-A-2, with daily happy hours from 3 to 5 p.m. starting on Tuesday, Sept 16 – Friday, Sept 19. We look forward to meeting with new and existing outdoor buyers and specialty stores and giving them a tour of our new collections. We have a 3,000-square-foot showroom which showcases many of our newest arrivals and bestselling outdoor collections for bar, dining and outdoor living.
