According to reports, Italian-made leather furniture has a long-standing reputation for its high-level craftsmanship and luxurious style, but in the past year, due to production and transportation restrictions and shipping costs, the US market has increased interest in Italian furniture. 

Although the price of sea freight from Europe to the United States has increased, it is far from the level of sea freight from Asia to the United States. As a result, Italian furniture has also gained competitiveness in terms of price.

According to Francesco Monno, international sales and marketing director of high-end furniture manufacturer Estro Milano, all of this has resulted in a substantial increase in the manufacturer' s sales in North America.

In addition to 100% handmade upholstered furniture made of Italian leather, Estro Milano also focuses its export sales and development on the American market. This includes the implementation of a fast delivery plan from Italy to serve North American customers.

"Most of the sales and marketing investments in the past two years have been in this specific geographic area," Monno said. "This strategy has proven to be successful because sales have more than tripled compared to two years ago".

Another Italian furniture vendor, Chateau d'Ax, has increased its sales by more than 50% compared to two years ago. Joe Filloy, its director of North American operations, believes that the company's 73 years of operating experience is very helpful to meet the needs of the North American market.

"Although the cost of transportation from Italy is currently high, it is not as expensive as Asia. The freight to the east coast of the United States is half of Asia (to the United States). In addition, the United States has no tariff issues on furniture imported from Italy."

Another high-end manufacturer run by a third-generation family owner, MaxDivani, uses 100% top grain leather for its products, all supplied by Italian tannery. Keith Mischel, President of MaxDivani Americas, reports that in the past two years, market share and business volume have grown "huge".

"In the past 16 months, we have been shipping faster than furniture vendors in Asia." Mischel said, "MaxDivani has a factory in Italy, which allows us to work closely with suppliers to prepare for any shortages. And be able to reserve the necessary raw materials."

Lush added that he is seeing more and more retailers adopting "Made in Italy" as a major retail selling point.

He added. "We increased the factory' s capacity as early as March, which allowed us to ship quickly. Most orders are produced and shipped within six weeks."

Italian manufacturers believe that in terms of the epidemic, their situation is not as serious as in Asia. Moreover, the level of labor in the industry is good enough to handle the increased production. And most Italian factories are small, so if a factory stops production, it will have little impact on the entire industry.

"Although some factories have had COVID-19 cases, Italian factories are often many smaller factories rather than large factories. Therefore, if production is stopped for a week or 10 days, it is not a disaster. In addition, our labor force has been very stable."

Incanto Italia Furniture Company believes that considering that exports to the United States have increased by 75% over 19 years, the company’ s management of delivery dates is already quite good, and the labor shortage that plagues other manufacturers is not for them. one question.