Industry veteran Mike Facchini is launching a new solid wood adult and youth bedroom supplier called Michael Ashton Designs.
The company says it will focus on solid wood products with high-quality finishes. It is showing at the High Point Market in 9,000 square feet in Furniture Plaza, space 611.
The company is offering 11 adult bedroom groups and four youth collections. It has three warehouses fully stocked and nine collections ready to ship at market, according to Facchini.
"We have significant investment in inventory to get started with this. The whole idea is really so buyers don't come to market seeing samples of product with their budget and then pick something and then maybe it doesn't get cut and they've wasted their time," said Facchini, who is president and owner.
He said he has been working on Michael Ashton's launch for about a year and is sourcing from factories in Vietnam.
But the company is using domestic lumber including West Virginia oak, Pennsylvania cherry and poplar from the Northeast. Additionally, it is placing a major focus on finishes - with 11-step processes - and a superior construction story.
Facchini said the warehouses in Plymouth, Mass., High Point and Ontario, Calif., will support not only container customers but smaller dealers that might not be able to buy full containers. It will also ship container direct from Vietnam.
Michael Ashton will offer a structured pricing model, including bridge pricing for customers who need shipment immediately, he added.
The collections include traditional, country and transitional designs. Most will have some sort of storage selling feature, Facchini said. A solid-wood four-piece bedroom group will range from $1,499 to $2,999 retail.
He said much of the company's sales staff has worked together for as many as three decades and at companies like Tradewins and Mastercraft Collections.
"We decided to stay in that niche and prove what we've learned over the last few years from all the companies that we've all worked with in this solid wood model," Facchini said.
"It's hard to find a good solid wood story and everything is price, price, price. But there's still that customer out there that wants better quality, that wants domestic lumber, wants a solid wood story, so that's where we're going to stay," he said.
In Vietnam, the company is working with an American agent with a support staff of more than 40 people. A quality control manager will monitor progress there, he said.
"I feel very comfortable that there's not a language barrier and what we ask for, we get," Facchini said.
The company is also working on marketing materials and will have product labeled with QR, or quick response, codes at market. He said a goal it to have QR codes attached to short online videos that describe the brand.
At market, the company will raffle a Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe motorcycle. Container buyers will get a raffle ticket for containers purchased at market. The contest will end in August and a winner chosen this fall.
