by Chairmeng Technologies will produce office chairs, swivel chairs, recliners and more for upholstery resource
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Leather upholstery specialist LeatherWorks Design Studio has teamed up with a Chinese manufacturer to broaden its line over the next several months.
The manufacturer is Chairmeng Technologies, which has nine production facilities in Anji China, a county that is located in the Zhejiang province. In addition to office chairs, the manufacturer produces bar stools, swivel chairs and recliners, including power-lift recliners.
Currently, LeatherWorks sells a line of stationary and motion upholstery that includes sofas, chairs and sectionals available in leather and fabric. It is working with Chairmeng to design and develop the other aforementioned categories for LeatherWorks’ customers in North America.
LeatherWorks President Larry Crink, a 50-year industry veteran who has worked for LeatherWorks for the past 17 and a half years and also was previously executive vice president of DeCoro USA, said he plans to show the new designs to dealers soon after market.
He said that Chairmeng has done business with U.S. retailers in the past, but largely has been focused on selling big box office supply stores such as Staples and Office Depot.
Like many other China manufacturers, he noted that Chairmeng suffered significant disruption in recent years because of factors ranging from tariffs to Covid-related supply chain problems and high container costs. Chairmeng took that opportunity to sharpen its focus, exiting the motion upholstery category to focus on the other core categories including occasional chairs, office chairs, European-style swivel recliners and power-lift recliners.
“He took the hit like most Chinese folks did between tariffs, between Covid, between freight rates,” said Crink, who has known the manufacturer for about five years. “I am not going to tell you he didn’t have any production, but he was basically beat up. As he drilled down on his raw materials suppliers and as freight got ridiculously low from China — you can land a container on the West Coast for almost $1,000 – he went back and started to gear up.”
Thus, the opportunity presented itself for the two companies to work together.
“I have been trying to sell him some new designs, which he eventually decided he will do, but it won’t be until next market that we’ll introduce them,” Crink said, noting that his regular line includes about 20 new designs in time for this week’s April High Point Market. With a dozen or so sales reps on board and appointments booked through this coming week, he said he is expecting a good market.
He said the new product being developed with Chairmeng will all be available in fabric and top-grain leather and also will include full-sized recliners that LeatherWorks will be prototyping in May and June.
“We will be showing it to retail customers after market,” he said, noting that even with tariffs, China product still represents a value to major retailers. “Some folks are familiar with the quality and I am assuming will just commit when they see the photos of the finished prototypes.”
At market, LeatherWorks is showing in Space 200 of the National Furniture Mart building.
