by 2 dozen pieces include dining and occasional furniture and some seating
HIGH POINT — It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.
That’s a key message dealers will find on the new Margaritaville licensed furniture line by custom solid wood furniture resource John Thomas Furniture.
The company announced this week that it has signed a licensing partnership with the Margaritaville brand synonymous with the island and tropical lore made popular by the late great Jimmy Buffett.
Called Margaritaville Home by John Thomas Furniture, the line includes some two dozen different pieces spanning the John Thomas dining and occasional furniture line along with select upholstered pieces including dining and accent chairs, bar and counter stools and ottomans.
The pieces come in two standard finishes including a white tone called Chalk and a Taupe Gray. They also are available in a total of 48 finishes available in the company’s Select program, but lead times will be longer on those items. Ones ordered in the two standard finishes are in stock and can ship in a matter of days from the time of order.
A signature element of the program is the artwork provided by the Margaritaville brand, including some 40 pieces of artwork sporting the logo and a tropical or island theme ranging from palm trees and marlin fishing to the familiar “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes” message from the Jimmy Buffet album.
These pieces of art will be applied to the tops of tables made overseas including dining tables, consoles, cocktail, end tables and accent tables. Fabrics sport sophisticated images of flora and fauna in muted aqua and blue tones set against an off-white background.
Parrots, of course, also make an appearance, but it’s not in a cartoonish manner — for example showing them sipping a margarita or smoking some type of cigar — but rather as part of the natural, tropical landscape.
Bryan Sprinkles, vice president of sales and development at John Thomas, said this marks the first time the company has had a licensing partnership. He believes the timing is right because the casual nature of the Margaritaville brand ties into the company’s core capabilities as a resource for casual dining and occasional.
In addition to cocktail, end and accent tables, the collection will include both square and round regular and counter-height dining tables with either leg or pedestal bases.
The pieces will come in finished from Vietnam and from there, various logos will be applied digitally to table tops, which will then be sealed with a clear-coat finish.
Knowing the popularity of the Margaritaville brand, the company decided to preorder the line, which is being stocked in its Thomasville, North Carolina, warehouse. The company received strong response from a dozen or so dealers at premarket and will begin taking orders at the April market.
“We have the product already — we wanted to pull the trigger,” Sprinkles said, adding that the only reason it didn’t start taking orders at premarket is that it is still setting up templates to print on some remaining SKUs. However the line is expected to ship soon after market.
And with such a strong early response, he believes the product will do well and not just in coastal areas. At some point in the future, the line may also extend to some pieces that can be used outdoors.
“Their fan base is a universal group of people around the world,” he said. “It is not just for coastal properties or Florida. It is more of a lifestyle than a particular location. And what better fit than casual dining.”
At market, John Thomas is showing the line at its showroom at 215 S. Main St.
