Frankford Umbrella is a company working its way to the top.
In 2021, the company’s retail sales were 75% higher than 2020, rising another 40% in 2022. And that’s just specialty retail sales, which doesn’t account for the company’s robust contract division.
The company pushed back a few introductions to 2023 because they were doing everything they could just to keep up with the demand for their existing product line.
Though they experienced some of the challenges that others did in terms of the supply chain, they did not have any issues with their labor force, maintaining a full staff throughout the entire year.
“We actually doubled our U.S.-based production warehouse and shipping capabilities in 2022,” says National Sales Manager Laura Dudley. “And we are very fortunate that our primary suppliers of our fabric did not experience some of the same issues that some of the other fabric suppliers did in the industry.”
That means Frankford was able to deliver on lead times last year that were substantially faster than most in the umbrella industry — one to two weeks for quick-ship items, two to four weeks for most stock items (eight stock frame finishes and 30 stock fabrics), and four to eight weeks for custom items and large shade.
“Feedback from clients regarding our lead times has been excellent, ” she says. “And that accounted for a good chunk of our growth because we had a lot of new clients find us last year, which we are very grateful for. That need for an additional supplier might have been what prompted them to find us earlier than they would have otherwise.”
But success isn’t always easy. Dudley says despite the many areas of opportunity, it put into perspective that the company could be better equipped to handle the volume of orders coming in.
“We could have done a better job of having our internal processes and procedures ready to handle the massive increase in sales because obviously not only did retail sales increase but certainly contract sales did as well,” Dudley explains.
However, it’s the wise who learn from their mistakes, and that’s part of the reason Frankford ended 2022 and is opening 2023 with a brand-new custom-built just-for-Frankford software and inventory order management system.
“The technology allows Frankford to give our customers better access to inventory reports, real-time order status, and things like that,” Dudley says. “And this software is something we will continue to grow on over the years, and add in components that our clients will eventually be able to access. So they’re not just getting reports emailed to us, they’re actually able to log into their accounts, look at their open orders and make changes. All of these things are really going to help our clients by providing great customer service.”
The new technology rolled out in the beginning of January, and Dudley says the company plans to have things in full swing by the spring.
For 2023, Dudley says the company is excited to be making the transition over to Atlanta, which will mark Frankford’s official debut as a permanent showroom holder.
“We couldn’t have a better spot — Building 1, Floor 2 — and we are thrilled about that,” Dudley says. “We kind of feel like that makes us official in the retail business and enhances our presence in the trade show circuit with the permanent showroom.”
The company is also back to releasing new products and has introduced one new frame finish and five new quick-ship fabric finishes for 2023.
“We’ve also been promoting our online custom shade designer, which lets any end user or client, whether it be a retail store or a designer, sit down and work with their end users through Frankford’s website to completely custom design their umbrella, from top to bottom,” Dudley says. “So the frame, finish, the size, the fabric, they can add trim, they can add a valance, they can do all kinds of great things. And it really allows for the stores to not have to feel like they need to tie up all of their cash flow.
“Our custom lead times right now we’re about four to six weeks, which is really good,” she continues. “And they don’t have to take up all that space on their showroom floor, they can bring in a little bit less inventory, or just bring in some stock inventory, and then know that they can start a custom design with their clients.”
This customization ability is something Dudley says Frankford’s competitors cannot replicate so easily in terms of the selection they offer and the speed with which they offer it.
Dudley explains that Frankford anticipates a little bit of a slowdown in 2023 as compared to 2022, but she doesn’t think they will go back to 2019 levels, and that’s because Frankford is a little different.
“Although we are an old company in terms of our age, in business, we are somewhat new still to the retail side of things,” Dudley says. “So we only have probably six or seven seasons under our belts in retail. We’ve gone from zero to where we are in seven years, so our increases have been kind of drastic. We anticipate 2023 levels to probably be closer to where they were in 2021, as 2022 was a little bit of an outlier in terms of the bump in sales.
“But we are really pleasantly surprised with the preseason orders that we’ve seen for 2023 compared to what we originally predicted. And so we think that this year is going to be a really good year.”
