Furniture and bedding source Emerald Home Furnishings is hoping for an inside track to the outdoor room.

At the Las Vegas Market, which opens July 29, it will introduce 21 outdoor groupings and related accessories in a satellite showroom in World Market Center space B-1262.

Earlier this month, the company previewed the lineup to a dozen key accounts at its showroom in High Point's Center Point building. In attendance were representatives from Art Van Furniture, Fortunoff Backyard Store, and Johnny Janosik World of Furniture, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Pacific Patio and others.

Offered under the umbrella of Emerald Outdoor Furniture, the comprehensive assortment includes motion, dining, deep seating, fire pits, tables, accessories and pillows.

While the outdoor furniture will be offered primarily as a container-only program, the company said it will also back up bestselling items in its 200,000-square foot warehouse in Tacoma, Wash.
 
This seven-piece set, part of the Reims collection, blends contemporary outdoor wicker with weathered teak to tell an old-meets-new story.

The strategy for the new goods, which will range in retail from $799 for a table and five and top out at $3,499 for a seven-piece set, is to offer upscale, stylish designs and affordable prices.

"We see a big gap between the specialty stores that offer opulent looks and high prices and the mass merchants, that sell lower priced goods and limited selections," said Emerald President David Beckmann. "Our goal is to fill that gap with great selection, great designs and affordable prices."

Beckmann said the lineup, which is ready to ship now, features detailed casting, chat-height fire pits, mixed media goods, extensive woven options and performance fabrics from Sunbrella and other non-branded performance fabric suppliers.

"We realize this is a growth category and so do many of our current customers who encouraged us to add outdoor furniture to our assortment," Beckmann said, adding, "We see this as a true win/win because it gives us a bigger footprint with our customers and since we've done the product development and sourcing, they, don't have add new vendors in order to participate in this exciting segment of the business."

To further minimize risk for retailers, especially those new to the category, Emerald collaborated with brothers Gary and Lyle Ecoff, both veteran retailers with expertise in the outdoor segment.

Previously, Gary was the founder and president of Florida-based Carl's Patio. Lyle had been vice president of Carl's Patio and also had been president of the original Robb & Stucky's outdoor furniture division.

For a longer story and more photos on the line, see the July 22 print issue of Furniture/Today.