"Our mission is creating and selling innovative furniture for today's consumers who have a modern sensibility, complemented by original design, superior quality, sustainability, customer service and affordability," company President Rita Ho-Bezzola said in a statement. "Our message to the consumer is 'live the life you love,' and we want to support that concept with every action we take."
The company is rolling out the name change along with a new corporate logo and merchandising strategy in time for the July 29-Aug. 2 Las Vegas Market. There, in about 7,000 square feet in World Market Center A-914 and A-916, it will showcase several new occasional and dining groups.
The company has not yet revealed specifics about its introductions for the summer market. However, the company said its new items will be "styled and priced to compete head to head with the popular household retailer chains." A typical table and four chair set, for example, would retail around $1,299.
It also is offering English dovetailing, self-closing, full-extension drawer glides and water-based finishes throughout the wood line.
Somerton is the U.S. sales and marketing arm of Kingstone Furniture, a case goods manufacturer in Dongguan City in southern China. Somerton's corporate offices and distribution center are in Corona, Calif., and it also has an East Coast warehouse in Stoneville, N.C., about a 40 minutes north of High Point.
Ho-Bezzola said she believes these and other initiatives will help grow the company's market share in the next five years.
"They tell me I have sawdust in my blood," she said. "However, I believe to be a force in the home furnishings industry, manufacturers need to start thinking like a consumer and produce products that we would welcome in our own homes."
