by MONTREAL, QUEBEC—Dorel Home, a segment of Dorel industries Inc. (TSX: DII.B, DII.A) and the leader in ready-to-assemble furnishings for the whole home, is reopening its 9th floor C&D Building showroom at the High Point Market, April 2-6, to showcase both new products and its growing portfolio of high-profile licensed brands. The company is back in High Point after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
Already well known for its long-standing product collaboration with Cortney and Robert Novogratz, the prolific husband and wife interior and product design duo known as The Novogratz, as well as CosmoLiving by Cosmopolitan, the lifestyle brand aimed at the Cosmo Girl, Dorel Home expanded its brand portfolio still further when the pandemic began two years ago. The company used its tradeshow hiatus to ink a deal with Queer Eye and Scout Productions, creating a partnership that produces product exclusively for Walmart.
Sales have been ramping up year over year, according to Claudia Grundman, vice president, global brand partnerships, Dorel Home. Fourteen months ago, Dorel Home announced another new licensed product collaboration, this time with Mr. Kate, a brand founded by
lifestyle/DIY bloggers Kate Albrecht and Joey Zehr who found fame and a devoted fan base of young consumers via a YouTube channel that now boasts more than 4 million followers.
This Market, The Novogratz will be on hand in person in the Dorel Home showroom to share news about yet another new licensed collection partnership, this time between themselves and global entrepreneur, style icon, and original influencer Paris Hilton and her company 11:11 Media.
“The hottest thing in marketing and branding in the licensing world now are brand collaborations, where one brand partners with another talent who has an eye for the product they are creating for short-lived capsule collections,” said Grundman. “Paris has a very strong eye for interior design and it’s something she’s incredibly passionate about. This is an organic partnership that makes sense for Paris and The Novogratz and we’re fortunate to be working with both teams to bring the collection, which will launch later this year, together.”
At the Market this week, Dorel Home will also showcase new product for home office from The Novogratz, including the Bushwick Ladder Desk along with extensions to their modern Athena Occasional collection. Also, on view from the growing Dorel family of brands: The Moon Phases accent collection from Mr. Kate and that design duo’s Winston Desk, available in multiple finishes. CosmoLiving by Cosmopolitan, which focuses on vintage glam vibes with a modern twist, will highlight its Elizabeth bedroom collection, while Little Seeds, the company’s décor-minded youth furnishings line, will introduce the Skyler House Bed and new Valentina and Shiloh case pieces. Queer Eye will feature the Wainwright living room collection and Cambridge office, a collection with a country touch.
“We’re coming back to High Point stronger than ever,” Grundman said. “We have pushed through Covid-related supply chain constraints, and we have focused on increasing our domestic production capabilities dramatically this year, with more than $10 million invested in
new equipment to upgrade our factories, and several million more invested in expanding our work force. We expect a substantial increase in domestic production in 2022, offsetting the logistics challenges we experienced overseas during the pandemic, and our goal is to reshore as much as possible as we move forward. We are excited to share all of these developments about our company, products and partners with our dealers at the Market.”
