Armen Living’s president, Kevin Kevonian, and vice president of sales and marketing, Lee Honigsfeld, share the secrets behind their successful outdoor division and what led to their company’s explosive growth in the outdoor category.
How long has Armen Living been creating outdoor collections?
Kevonian – “Our team has been creating outdoor designs since 2019. We believe that each and every piece we design and develop conveys self-expression while resonating with a contemporary lifestyle. This is why we offer outdoor collections that deliver expert craftsmanship and are made from durable, weather-resistant materials at fiscally sensible price points.”
What outdoor category did you start with first?
Honigsfeld – “When we first started offering outdoor, we began with stocking sets that were off the shelf. As our product assortment grew, we started offering more living sets, lounge furniture, casual outdoor dining and a wide selection of bar stools.”
Which outdoor categories do you offer?
Kevonian – “Armen Living offers over 400 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. Our newest category is outdoor planters and outdoor accessories. This category is also made with durable outdoor materials and is less than a year old, but is getting a great response from our retailers and designer clients.”
Describe your outdoor design style.
Kevonian – “With more than 50 outdoor collections, 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 a new and interesting gray-colored weave that tends to look a bit olive and is getting lots of attention from retailers, designers and stagers that want something a bit different from what they are seeing in the marketplace.”
How has your category grown over the past four years?
Honigsfeld – “Our expansion in the trade industry has led to exponential growth for our company over the last four years. Especially in our outdoor category which we now design 70% completely in-house.”
Are your outdoor collections aimed at the residential market? Or hospitality as well?
Kevonian – “As our outdoor designs continue to set our brand apart for their originality, we are seeing expansion in our hospitality division from customers who want beautiful and affordable outdoor living collections to elevate their outdoor living spaces. We have also seen that many of our existing designer clients also do a fair amount of “resimercial” and need outdoor furniture for vacation rental properties to other mixed-use spaces.”
Honigsfeld – “Hospitality is a relatively new channel for Armen Living and right now it only makes up approx 5% of our business. By exhibiting at HD Expo over the last several years, we have gained new hospitality and contract customers that love our custom options that effectively and efficiently meet their project needs. From contract designers and hospitality brands to commercial design firms, our outdoor designs have been featured in hotels, bars, restaurants, universities and resort destinations all over the country.”
What sets Armen Living apart?
Honigsfeld – “With innovative and original designs that make up the majority of our collections, this has definitely helped our brand to stand out. This began approximately two years ago as we started to strategically shift our product development to focus more on our own designs. As our original designs not only gained interest, and the sales for these original designs grew, it began to be clear that our trade buyers had started to shift away from buying our off-the-rack pieces to wanting those collections we designed in-house.”
What led your brand to make this shift in product development?
Kevonian – “One of the other priorities we have for shifting our product development was that we wanted to create original outdoor designs that seamlessly blended stylish indoor-outdoor living spaces, with the same quality, durability and extreme comfort as our indoor furniture. Our company is also based in Southern California, and the indoor-outdoor living concept is a huge design focus and is one of the reasons we pride ourselves in developing fashion-forward furniture, made with durable materials and with exceptional style.”
Do you sell more outdoor collections to retailers or designers?
Kevonian – “We do a fair amount of business with retailers big and small and independent designers and design firms all over the country. We also create custom container programs for many of the Top 100 retailers who tend to focus on a more seasonal approach to outdoor. Thankfully, we have both seasonal outdoor buyers and outdoor sales throughout the year for those customers like us that have warmer climates and have a need to purchase outdoor throughout the year.”
Can you share any insights on the sales growth for your outdoor category?
Honigsfeld – “Our average annual sales on outdoor used to make up only 2%-3% of our business and last year our outdoor sales were above 15%, which is a significant increase. We also design and manufacture more than 400 outdoor SKUs, so that is a big increase in this category from when we first started offering outdoor just four years ago. It also helps that we heavy stock outdoor inventory year-round — that our customers in California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida, and throughout the Caribbean, absolutely love!”
Do you have a bestselling collection?
Kevonian – “Our new Koda Outdoor Lounge Collection is one of our bestsellers. Since we debuted this collection, buyers and designers have shared that they all love the clean lines and simplicity of the design. We also recently won an award for one of our most popular collections, the Cayman 4 Piece Black Aluminum Outdoor Seating Set with Dark Gray Cushions by Armen Living. It was named the 2023 Director’s Choice by the ADEX Awards.
Can you share more about your custom and container programs?
Honigsfeld – “Providing unsurpassed and unparalleled attention to detail, our fully integrated sales and product development team work closely with our customers to handle each piece of their product development, from creating original products to providing detailed drawings, and managing the entire manufacturing process. We also provide supply chain solutions and build customized container programs from four major distribution points overseas. Whether the final destination is located in the USA or within a worldwide market, with flexibility and speed, we meet the demands of each of our customers while we continue to exceed our customers’ expectations at every level and interaction.”
What outdoor trends are you featuring for spring/summer 2023-24?
Kevonian – “Some of the hottest trends for indoor furniture have been darker frames with lighter gray upholstery, and we carried this into our outdoor designs. We found that offering neutral outdoor fabrics helps the end consumer when they want to switch up their style and play with adding new colors and patterns to their outdoor space.”
Honigsfeld – “Our 2023-24 outdoor collections will have some exciting new introductions as we balance innovative designs with more mixed media that will focus on the eucalyptus wood and aluminum frames, with durable outdoor weave materials. We are also debuting more substantial frames and styles that are beautiful stand-alone pieces you would have indoors but are specially designed for outdoor living.”
Are you excited about exhibiting at the upcoming Causal Market in Atlanta?
Honigsfeld – “We are very excited to be a first-time exhibitor in Booth B1 7-1104 and to meet outdoor buyers and specialty stores at the upcoming Casual Market in Atlanta. We have a 20’ x 50’ booth to showcase many of our outdoor collections. Now in our fourth year of selling outdoor furniture, we can’t wait for the response and to meet even more buyers who are attending the summer shows.”
Armen Living will be showcasing its newest arrivals at the Casual Market in Atlanta, July 10-13, in Booth B1 7-1104, and at Las Vegas Market, July 30-Aug. 03, in Showroom B759.
