At this year's Fall High Point Market, DwellStudio invited designers to take a break from analyzing the fare and listen in on a big announcement. After working closely with e-commerce retail giant Wayfair for more than a year, Christiane Lemieux, founder of modern furniture and home décor retailer DwellStudio, announced the re-imagination and expansion of her furniture line.
“We will be ending our partnership with Precedent and will be working with a group of four new suppliers come April 2015,” Lemieux announced. “We had a wonderful run with Precedent, and think the world of the team there, but our new partners will allow us to achieve unparalleled efficiencies paired with the production of high-quality products, and expanded consumer reach.”
According to Lemieux, Klaussner and Magnussen are the first two brands which DwellStudio has decided to partner with. "Our number one priority is to offer our customers an expanded and accessible collection of high-quality home furnishings," she added. "We will be able to offer our products at more attainable price points due to the increased production capacity and distribution resources that Klaussner and Magnussen will provide."
Christiane Lemieux
Read on for a Q&A with Lemieux to learn more about the roll out.
Why re-launch with a new furniture producer?
When we looked at all the interest for DwellStudio product, read through all our social media comments, and talked to our amazing design-savvy customer base, overwhelmingly people wanted our look but at a wider range of price points. In the past year or two, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the consumer’s interior design IQ. Social media sites and tools like Pinterest and Houzz are bringing great design coverage to a much broader audience, and people want more access to designer looks.
However, the selection of designer products at accessible pricing is really lagging behind the rising demand from consumers. We want to deliver gorgeous, high-quality designer product and change the market. We also want to help our design and decorator clients reach a bigger audience themselves. It has been an amazing challenge to accomplish this and we can’t wait to unveil the new collection.
What types of pieces will be in the new line?
We will be expanding our current categories, such as bedroom and living room, and we will be introducing new categories that we do not currently carry, such as home office and dining. We anticipate there will be 80 beautifully-crafted new pieces.
Rendering of the new DwellStudio furniture line
What will the prices be like?
We will be able to offer one of our designer sofas for $1,200 to $2,500, down from $3,000 to $4,500.
What will make the new collection different from previous collections?
We looked to our designer and retail customers here; overwhelmingly people wanted more selection and a wider range of price points, and access to everything at a faster rate. We answered that by adding new product and categories, and different price tiers as well as shorter lead times. Custom upholstery used to take 12 to 14 weeks to ship; now we can now turn it around in half the time.
What is one thing you would want designers to know about the re-launch of the furniture collection?
We will continue to partner with designers to bring great style, impeccable quality and our signature details to their clients. It's our hope that our designer clients can pass on the savings to their clients, and thus make everyone happy and grow everyone’s business. At the end of the day when our designers win, we do too.
Rendering of the new DwellStudio furniture line
When will the new line be rolled out?
The new line will launch at High Point in April 2015. Stay tuned for sneak peeks and fun events surrounding the launch.
Anything else you'd like to add?
It has been very interesting for me to work alongside the amazing Wayfair team in order to create groundbreaking designs at very compelling prices through vertical manufacturing, tightly managed supply chains, unparalleled partnerships and state-of-the-art logistics. We can’t wait to share that.
