All Natural Cleaning Products and Healthy Food

I had a very interesting conversation this past weekend. I was at some friends and was talking to a small group of their neighbors. They were all talking about how we all need to “do our part” to help protect the environment. They all came from different perspectives; health concerns for their children, environment concerns over limited resources, landfills overflowing, etc. They talked about using natural cleaning products, range free chicken, and planting trees.
Somehow the conversation came around to home design. The friends who I was visiting said they wanted a new sofa for their family room. I joked and said they had better not get one from anywhere else but my company (Note: Yes, we only sell to the trade, but since I am the owner, friends do get special consideration!) Well, they said they would love to, but my sofas are too expensive. Now, I am aware that my furniture is expensive and not for everyone. So we started talking about furniture and prices. What surprised me the most, was that all these people thought cheap furniture was a great way to decorate. They could use it and then when they were tired of it, just get rid of it and get something new.
I was shocked at their thinking. I told them my furniture as well as my business philosophy was totally contrary to what they were saying. How could they be so concerned about health food, eco-friendly cleaning products, old growth rain forest depletion, and yet purchase “throw-away” furniture? I was a great opportunity for me to tell people about quality furniture and the benefits to the environment, their health concerns, and to their own lifestyle and quality of life. I hope it was educational and maybe one of them will think about furniture the same way they think about buying natural cleaning products!!

Promotion and Marketing

Hello!

Wow, it was a long but VERY productive day today. I went to a fabric showroom at the SFDC (San Francisco Design Center) along with my Designer Sales Representative. I am working with a fabric showroom to put my furniture collection into their showroom. I am looking to expand my presence within the SF Design trade market. So, a fabric showroom is a great partnership. I would be the only upholstered furniture line in the showroom, which is a huge benefit. Often, when your furniture is in a home furnishings showroom, you are among many other companies. So I would be the one and only in this fabric showroom. (I will share the fabric showrrom name with you once we have all the details finalized. I dont want to get to far ahead of myself.) The showroom has a great selection of fabrics, which are well priced. They have many new collections coming out and are really promoting themselves. In a time when so many showrooms are struggling, and pulling back on promotions, it is good to be partnered with a showroom with a direction and plan for the future. The only drawback is that they are a "Fabric Showroom", so that means the staff is there to sell fabric, and not neccessarily there to promote my furniture. But, as I have a great outside sale rep, who specializes in designer sales, it helps her to build up her territory and contact list. Also, I do have a furniture collection at a Furniture Showroom right upstairs from this fabric showroom ( the J. Scott Waterman Showroom. www.jscottwaterman.com), so they can also assist the fabric showroom with sales. It is a (hopefully) win-win situation for everybody! Tomorrow, I have an appointment with a design firm out in the Danville area. I am looking forward to discussing business and furniture with them! Bye for now!

Jim

Welcome to Cypress Furniture

Welcome to the Cypress Furniture Blog

Let me first start by introducing myself. My name is Jim Berrens and I am the owner of a furniture manufacturing company, Cypress Furniture. Cypress Furniture is located in the San Francisco Bay area, in the city of Hayward, California. I have owned Cypress for a couple of years now. Cypress started out as Umphred’s Furniture, an old upholstered furniture manufacturer. There are many San Francisco, Seattle and Phoenix designers who remember Umphred’s fondly. We have a rich history of building beautiful, outstanding quality furniture. Cypress Furniture still builds its furniture much in the same way as Umphred’s did.

I hope to use this blog to explain, educate and express what beautiful, well built, quality furniture is all about. I would like to explain the differences in furniture construction; to educate why we build our furniture in the same traditional construction techniques as the our founding company; educate the consumer in the value of well constructed furniture; and express the pride which our family of employees feels in building a beautiful piece of furniture. I am sure along the way I will also share our difficulties and struggles with operating a manufacturing facility. We are full of pride and hope but also are aware of the challenges we face in being a manufacturer of a very high end product in a market saturated with cheap, poorly made furniture which, when covered in a beautiful fabric, looks a lot like ours.

Cypress furniture build upholstered furniture: Sofas, chairs, loveseats, ottomans, hassocks, upholstered beds, benches, anything upholstered (although eventually I would like to expand Cypress into a full line manufacturer with a casegoods collection. Casegoods is the home furnishings category of furniture which includes end tables, coffee tables, dining tables, etc.). Primarily our furniture is for residential use; however, we also work a handful of commercial designers and specifiers, and build some commercial upholstery for them. Our furniture is available to the trade, which means we sell our furniture to interior designers and decorators, as well as through furniture showrooms located in design centers, as well as a couple of retail home furnishings stores. We do not sell directly to the public, we are not set up as a retail operation, and do not have the support staff to do this. By selling only through the design trade we are able to keep our overhead down and are also able to offer better service to our customers. It would surely increase sales if we sold directly to the public, but our business model is to keep our relationships with those who work with us personal. We pride ourselves on our quality and when you get too big, that becomes too difficult to maintain. We know all of the designers who order through us; we know what they want, we know that at anytime in their design process they can contact us, or we them if we have questions regarding their order. This personal touch is what has helped us survive and thrive as a custom upholstery manufacturer. There are many manufacturer of upholstery, but we feel that through building relationships first with our customers, we are then able to build the perfect product for their clients. Most of our local designers, often bring their clients to the factory to show them who we are, what and how we build our product and then we work with them to build a personal, custom piece of furniture to suit their needs, their lifestyle, their home. This is after all, the basis for good design: creating a living space to meet the needs, lifestyle and desire of the homeowner. Good design needs to meet these criteria within the budgetary concerns and perceived value of the homeowner. By bringing their clients to the factory, designers can show them exactly what they are buying and what fine furniture should be, as well as what they can expect from well constructed furniture. It also provided designers an opportunity to help educate their clients the difference between throw away furniture and furniture which is an investment. I believe we need to be aware of our use of resources and use them to our best ability, to build furniture which will last. That is why Cypress Furniture builds only the finest quality upholstery frames. There are many ways to build cheaper furniture, but it is just that: cheap furniture. I will take more time in upcoming blog entries to talk about furniture construction. I just wanted to use this initial entry to give you a little background about us and why we do, what we do. I hope that you will find this blog to be educational, informative, and sometimes even a little funny. I hope you will also post questions and comments to us. I appreciate and value your input. Please pass the post along to friends and family who love furniture as much as I do, to designer friends and to anyone about to make a furniture investment.
Thank you and I look forward to keeping you informed and entertained!
Sincerely,
Jim Berrens


Cypress Furniture
http://www.cypressfurnitureinc.com/