by Plank & Hide announced the acquisition of outdoor furniture industry supplier previously known as 300 South Main a few weeks ago, and Casual News Now caught up with CEO Erik Mueller to talk about the new company, which has been rebranded as P&H Elements.
Mueller says 300 South Main’s business model made the company attractive because they address a middle to lower middle portion of the market while Plank & Hide serves a higher-end customer.
“It made a lot of sense to roll them up into our organization,” Mueller says. “Gary and Ken have a ton of experience in both indoor furniture and outdoor furniture. We had some crossover in our customer base, but there was a lot less crossover than there was a crossover, so made it attractive as well. When you can leverage all the supply chain and the network of employees, and then then the product mix it works out great for us.”
The showroom also worked out for Plank & Hide because Mueller had been looking for a showroom in High Point and couldn’t find what he wanted. After numerous talks with 300 South main, they ended up acquiring the showroom as a byproduct of buying the company.
The showroom will have two floors—the main floor focused on home recreation and entertainment, and an upper floor with Plank & Hide outdoor product.
He also says he expects High Point to be very strong for P&H Elements.
“Our initial feedback from our customer base on this whole deal is tremendous,” he says. “Our feedback from our existing customers has been great, they’re super excited about being able to add some additional floor spots to be able to do more business with Plank & Hide. We’re blessed that they enjoy doing business with us and support us directionally where we’re going with the company.”
The goal of the company, according to Mueller, is to holistically present an environment outdoor and home entertainment furnishings—and he feels the acquisition of 300 South Main and its showroom will do that.
“Whether it’s indoor or outdoor home entertainment, Plank & Hide continues to aspire to become a leader in that space,” he says.
