“Office furniture is being ‘dumbed down’ by manufacturers whose focus is on styling instead of substance. ‘If you look at their chairs, they probably shouldn’t be making chairs. It dumbs down design and that means design firms play less of a role.'”
– MMQB and Humanscale’s Bob King
The above quotes couldn’t be more accurate when speaking about the current standing of the commercial furniture business. There are the major competing manufacturers – Steelcase, Herman Miller, Knoll, etc. – and then there are those smaller companies, such as Humanscale, who focus whole heartedly on design and strive to provide a diverse range of products to meet their customers’ needs without demanding loyalty from dealers.
The industry’s traditional office furniture makers tend to be more concerned with their numbers and keeping up with competitors than with sharing the market in order for their dealers to offer more options to clients. Most dealers have a cut throat relationship with these larger manufacturers and are pressured to remain loyal by selling only the product that is made available to them.
Luckily, for smaller, boutique design firms like us, we have options! We’re open to working with smaller manufacturers who produce trendy, fresh new items that meet the needs of your project by way of price, style, and innovation. This is an important factor to take into consideration when choosing a dealer to order product through. Not only do we provide a fully customized revamp of your space and get to know you and your project on a personal level, but we also tend to offer more of the best products that may not be available to you from a dealer with loyalty to those manufacturers offering less of the options you need.
When choosing to update your space, think about the advantages of a personalized experience that you may only get with a boutique dealer like ours. We look forward to every project that comes our way and are excited about the freedoms that allow us to choose from a variety of manufacturers so that you get the product you want at the price you need, all the while being a part of the design process from start to finish. What could be better?
quote via MMQB
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- In
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- By Kristin Weber
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