Serge Ferrari targets residential upholstery market

Serge Ferrari has been around for 50 years, mostly working in the cruise, hospitality furnishings, tensile architecture, and solar protection industries developing composite upholstery products

But recently, the company entered the residential market in a big way, in part due to the fabric shortages the home furnishings industry is experiencing today.

Laurent Pelleqeur

Its main outdoor upholstery collections include Batyline Elios, Batyline Lounge and Batyline Eden, which come in 10 colors and is made from a blend of PVC and polyester along with some synthetic materials. 

Laurent Pellequer, Serge Ferrari’s development market manager, says the cruise industry is what helped them get recognized for their composite material, as they were asked to develop an upholstery material that had the durability of its sling products.  

“During COVID, we have been doing extensive work in reaching out to our selling partners, and since they know the quality of our product, it was not too hard for us to enter the residential market,” Pellequer, says.

The company’s lead times are about 10 weeks, which is much shorter than their competitors, but also longer than the company had planned for. However, the company has dedicated looms for its fabrics that are working overtime to produce new product and meet demand.

We are one of the very few who has product in stock, which is the name of the game nowadays,” Pellequer, says.  If you have the product in stock, you make sales, and if you don’t then you don’t make sales.”

Because the product is high quality and durable, it’s a bit more expensive than their competition. But Pellequer says this isn’t a problem because more consumers today realize that not all products are the same, and they’re investing more in furniture and fabrics that perform better. 

The end-user now is asking for a better quality product, and that’s why the brands that Serge Ferrari has been going after in the casual industry are buying in, and they have helped the company gain recognition in the casual industry despite a slow casual market where the company did not pick up as many leads as they had hoped.

Looking to the future, the company will add 12 new colors to their lines for a total of 22 and will show at several tradeshows, including Salon De Mobile in Milan. They also plan to continue upping their focus on the residential market.

“We’ve gained a lot of momentum this year, and we don’t see that slowing down any time soon,” Pellequer adds. 

Alex Milstein

Alex Milstein is the editor in chief of Casual News Now as well as a contributor and social media coordinator for Home News Now. He previously served as senior editor of both Casual Living and Designers Today. Prior to that, Alex covered technology for Furniture Today, with a focus on augmented reality, e-commerce, and 3D visualization.

View all posts by Alex Milstein →

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