Ethan Allen Woos Independent Designers, Boosts Customization

The manufacturer's entire case goods assortment will be converted to completely custom-made products within a year.

Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 8/10/2009

Exclusive—Like its namesake, Ethan Allen has a revolutionary streak—rechristening stores as design centers, replacing salespeople with design consultants, rejecting off-the-rack upholstery for custom. In the process, the residential-furnishings sector’s oldest dedicated store network has nimbly maneuvered the transformation from home-furnishings retailer to interior-design resource.

But in an interview with Interior Design, Ethan Allen chairman and chief executive officer M. Farooq Kathwari says the manufacturer’s broadened business model—which earlier this year grew a contract division—is now ready to tackle another previously untapped target: independent interior designers.

“The opportunity we have now is to increase our base, to continue to turn Ethan Allen into an interior-design company,” says Kathwari. “We will open our offerings to independent interior designers through our Interior Design Affiliate program.”

The IDA initiative, officially launching this fall, will solicit as many as 2,000 designers in key markets across the country to team with Ethan Allen’s on-staff designers. Famously hands-on, Kathwari himself will ultimately choose IDA members from a list of pre-qualified candidates. Following mandatory orientation sessions, IDAs accompanying clients to a local Ethan Allen design center will be paid commission on purchases. Ethan Allen’s own designers will also benefit, as sales generated by IDAs will be applied toward each design center’s overall incentive compensation goals.

Trade discounts are not offered to IDAs, but Kathwari expects designers will find equal value in the manufacturer’s nationally standardized “everyday low price,” as well as its operational expertise. “Ninety percent of our custom upholstery ships in 30 days,” he says. “Delivery is free. We take care of all the operations.”

A promotional brochure is being mailed to selected designers, along with a letter of invitation from Kathwari. The manufacturer’s new 10,000-square-foot design center at the World Market Center in Las Vegas, the first in a wholesale market complex, will act as a key marketing platform, not just to attract Nevadans, but the “thousands of designers who visit each market.” Ultimately, Kathwari says the IDA initiative could add an additional $100 million to $200 million to Ethan Allen’s annual sales, which last year reached $980 million.

Anticipating the demands of these IDAs to be, Ethan Allen has simultaneously embarked upon the “monstrous challenge” of converting its entire line of in-stock case goods to custom-order product. Four dining room groups have already made the transition, with plans to extend customization to the entire product segment within one year.

Beginning with finish and hardware choices, Ethan Allen will “incrementally provide more options,” such as different legs or door fronts. Already, manufacturing plants in Vermont and North Carolina are transitioning from manufacturing finished case goods to producing components that will eventually be assembled into custom goods. Made-to-order furniture will bypass the local design center entirely and instead be shipped directly to the consumer, reducing expenses and wear-and-tear on the furniture.

“Custom furniture is limited to the few people who can afford it,” says Kathwari. “We want to expand customization to middle and upper-middle America. It’s a new system, but it’s really akin to the old days of cabinet shops.”

Images courtesy of Ethan Allen.