by Company hires Mack Peters as president of its Malaysia division, shows its product mix at High Point Market
JOHOR, Malaysia — Upholstery manufacturer Clear Water Smart Home is opening a new 200,000-square-foot factory here aimed at serving the U.S. market with lower-middle- to middle-priced stationary and motion leather upholstery.
The company also has hired industry veteran Mack Peters as president of its Malaysia division, a role in which he will oversee sales and marketing for the company.
Peters was most recently vice president of sales at Minhas Furniture House Ltd. and before that was chief executive officer at Love’s Furniture. He also was previously a sales and marketing representative at Nice Link USA and before that was vice president of sales at Zoy Home Furnishings Co. He also previously held executive-level sales and merchandising roles at Global Furniture USA and at Klaussner Furniture.
The company is making its High Point Market debut in Space 601 of Market on Green.
It is showing some 40 motion upholstery groups and sectionals in leather and fabric at the market, which Peters noted do not have China tariffs as they will be made at the new plant in Johor, which will employ about 200 workers.
In the past, the company has been an OEM supplier, selling directly to retailers from its factory in China, which continues to produce for the domestic and European market as well as the Middle East.
The new factory in Johor, which begins production this month, will directly serve the U.S. market with product that does not have China tariffs. Manual leather sofas are targeted to start at $799 retail and power leather sofas will retail around $999. Leather sectionals will start around $1,999.
“We are moving U.S. production from China to Malaysia to avoid the tariffs and feel like this will be a tremendous impact on our business with our current customers,” Peters told Home News Now. “We also want to go direct to retailers in the U.S. and Canada and offer them a better value by going direct to the manufacturer.”
Peters added that the company expects to begin shipping around mid-May and have product on retail floors by July 1. In addition to sofa groups and sectionals, the company sells recliners.
Peters noted that currently 90% of the line is in leather, including Italian leathers. However, this market, it also is expanding with more fabric offerings.
“We are excited to be showing our new factory-direct model with the same great quality and style from our new Malaysia factory as our China factory with no duties to the U.S. market,” Peters said.
