HIGH POINT, N.C. — Last year when whole-home source Armen Living announced it would acquire North Carolina-based Uwharrie Chair Co. — now rebranded to Uwharrie Outdoor Living — the company made a significant investment in the casual furnishings category.
Armen Living first moved into outdoor in 2019, and since then, the company has seen such marked growth in the category that acquiring Uwharrie made sense as a next step in its future as a casual furnishings source.
“Armen’s entry into the casual segment came at just the right time as consumer demand was growing,” said Holly Lightfoot, director of product development, Armen Living and Uwharrie Outdoor Living. “Whether you had a small balcony, a patio or pool, the importance of having an outdoor space was increasing by leaps and bounds since Armen started their casual division five years ago. This overwhelming growth in the outdoor category intensified 10-fold as the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to stay home, and having even a small outdoor space to connect with family/friends helped everyone stay sane.”
Uwharrie Chair Co. presented an opportunity for Armen to diversify its outdoor furnishings assortment, which leans a bit more contemporary with collections in aluminum and teak with woven and rope details. Uwharrie is known for treated wood and poly-lumber furnishings with a more traditional look.
“Uwharrie’s unique collections, which combine classic American styling, are very different aesthetically from Armen Living’s outdoor collections, and that is part of what drew Kevin (Kevonian, Armen Living president and CEO) to the Adirondack-style outdoor furniture,” Lightfoot said. “Taking into account their variety of styles, custom capabilities and domestic manufacturing, Uwharrie presented limitless possibilities for design and innovation with concern to product development.”
Adding a domestic manufacturing story to their outdoor offering certainly made Uwharrie attractive to Armen Living. Uwharrie’s facility in Archdale, North Carolina, affords Armen Living a competitive advantage with lead times of four to six weeks for Uwharrie Outdoor Living products, as well as the ability to offer custom products.
“Anytime you can manufacture a product in the United States, especially a bench-made custom product, it allows you to be more hands-on and creative,” Lightfoot said. “Uwharrie’s capabilities is a white space, with endless possibilities for what the future of product development and design looks like. Through a combination of our development and sales strategies with their domestic manufacturing and bench-made quality, we will entice new customers, for both residential and hospitality industries.”
Armen Living and Uwharrie Outdoor Living opened a new showroom in High Point this market, which Lightfoot said will allow them to better position both brands and show outdoor buyers the breadth of their product offering.
“Showing both outdoor collections in one location is a game-changer for our brands,” Lightfoot said. “By combining resources and market strategies with exceptional sales expertise, both brands are focused on expanding their customer base.”
