Read more - ShadeScapes Americas

shade feature
by Laurie Rudd
Shade Solutions
Responding to demands, challenges
The shade product
segment was not immune to recent challenges experienced
by all in business,
casual or otherwise,
but the category
is now opening up
again.
“The challenges we face
mostly are to be innovative
with the look of umbrellas and
to maintain the competitive
price of our umbrellas amid the
constant rising costs of materials and labor today,” said Eric
Glaser, national sales manager,
Fiberlite Umbrellas. “Consumers today are not only looking
at umbrellas just for shade, but
as a way to enhance the look
of their outdoor environment,
whether it is in the commercial
or retail sector.”
This heightened interest
in outdoor living and shade
products is gaining ground in
the United States despite the
economic climate.
“I feel there were challenges
specific to the shade segment
including materials availability,
logistics, labor and pricing,”
said Calfornia Umbrella National Sales Manager Bryan
Sanches. “The environment in
general was challenging.”
The Pomona, Calif.-based
manufacturer was among
those making, distributing and
marketing shade products that
met a variety of challenges
with solutions designed to rise
above.
For years, the international
market has recognized the
advantages of shade products
and has ranked it as one of the
first elements to dress exteriors. The American market,
however, has lagged behind
and just recently started to recognize the category’s benefits
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The Spectra will be introduced this year by ShadeScapes Americas.
and invest in them as well. The
surge of interest is being attributed to Mother Nature as well
as marketing.
“First and foremost, there
is a growing awareness in this
country that direct exposure
to sunlight is not healthy, and
most people have looked to
shade products for protection,” said Jeff Leisen, national
sales manager of Galtech International. “Secondly, shade
products are used as much for
shade as they are for fashion.”
Treasure Garden’s Vice
President of Sales and Marketing Jeff B. Dorough credits the
surge in interest to greater consumer awareness of UV protection, effective marketing and
the depth of design choices.
The Plantation MAX Cantilever from TUUCI represents the imaginative engineering for which
the company is known.
May 2011
“Shade umbrellas provide
beauty, fashion and function all
in one product,” Dorough said.
Ultimately, the enhanced
value of shade has created one
challenge most companies welcome: Managing increased orders. “Dealers placed early-buy
orders earlier and larger than
ever before to ensure shade
products early in the season,”
Dorough said. By building up
Treasure Garden’s basic inventory during the slower months,
the shade manufacturer was
able to keep pace and handle
the heavy demand of the earlybuy season.
Sun Garden also is responding to rising demand for its
largest cantilever parasol,
the 13-foot Curve, as well as
continued orders of its 11 1/2 -ft.
Easy Sun octagon. “Definitely,
things are starting to pick up,”
said Mike Mallory, director of
sales, North America. “Oddly
enough, our more expensive
models seem to be selling better right now. It’s kind of the
opposite of what most people
might think: That it’s all about
price point.”
Mallory thinks the demand
for offset umbrellas is driven
by other developments that
have occurred in the casual
industry over the past 10 to 15
years, such as the growth of
chat groups, backyard entertaining and decorative tables
without holes for center-post
umbrellas. “We came out with
a new model of our parasol, the
13-foot Curve. It’s our biggest
yet and our most expensive.
And it’s outselling everything.
People are going for our bigger
and better models.”
Sun Garden, which is based
in Germany, holds worldwide
patents on its products. Every
year, it faces patent infringe-
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shade feature
Shade Solutions
ment challenges from people
who try to copy its designs.
This year was no exception
after a Sun Garden sales rep
recognized a knockoff umbrella
inside a New York retail store.
Because the retailer was a longtime customer, the companies
worked in partnership to have
that product removed and
returned to its manufacturer.
“A patent is only as good as
your ability and your willingness to enforce it,” Mallory
said.
Challenges over the past
two years varied as “credit
markets tightened, capital
projects stalled, dealer inventories stagnated and ordering
patterns dropped,” said Dougan
Clarke, founder and CEO of
Miami-based TUUCI. “Most
of our customers and vendors
alike were, fortunately, pre-
involving raw material and
labor. “As a new company, we
made the decision not to pass
increases along to our customers,” said Andrew Mehlman,
managing partner of the
Denver, Colo.-based firm. “We
have also been caught up in
the labor shortage issues that
China is experiencing and have
seen some delays in production. To offset these delays to
our customers, we have extended payment terms.”
Materials, labor and logistics
were not the only concerns
during the current economic
climate. “Our biggest challenge
was patience,” said Jo Edmonson, vice president of sales and
marketing for Paonia, Colo.based ShadeScapes Americas.
“In the contract and hospitality
arena, the number of quote
requests for our shade products
set inventory reductions with
greater interest in manufacturers’ drop-ship capabilities.
Timing concerns for orders
and shipments presented challenges, many of which were
manageable, yet difficult.
“Reduced early-buy orders and increased in-season
demands placed a stress on
our warehouse operations,”
Galtech’s Leisen said. “We
were able to overcome this by
increasing our warehouse inventory at the moment we saw
the season take off in such a
positive direction.”
Across the industry, shade
companies that were able to be
flexible and responsive fared
well despite the tough times.
“We have a direct relationship
with our factories and control
materials as well as labor,”
Sanches said. “In fact, we were
season,” Sanches said.
The shade segment is
responding to its increased
popularity by creating new
shade products while reaching
a greater understanding of the
business and the industry as a
whole.
“Because TUUCI has focused our investments on an
overall ‘experience,’ we are
better positioned than ever
to exceed the expectations of
our consumer, our dealers and
agents worldwide, our vendors,
and importantly, our internal
staff members at the enjoyment
level,” Clarke said. Through the
addition of a Shadow Works development group, TUUCI has
seen shade introductions quadruple over the past 24 months
— more than ever before in the
company’s history.
At ShadeScapes Americas,
Across the industry, shade companies that were able to be
flexible and responsive fared well despite the tough times.
The Triton from Fiberlite Umbrellas features multi-level shade to allow additional wind flow.
pared for the economic climate
and maintained a consistent,
though noticeably reduced
fulfillment schedule with
TUUCI.”
Both established and emerging businesses felt the impact.
Newcomer to the shade segment, FLEXX Market Umbrellas, experienced challenges
C asualliving. com
Sales of Sun Garden’s 13-ft. curve and 11 1/2-ft. easy sun octagon remain
strong.
continued to grow, but the timeframe to commit was longer.
Of course, many projects were
put on hold indefinitely due to
budget cuts.”
In addition to the tightened
contract niche, ShadeScapes
Americas and others dealt with
economic effects on the specialty retail market, which off-
able to take advantage of challenges facing others.”
Sales jumped for California
Umbrella as retailers and contract customers were looking
for solutions that were available
and at favorable price points.
“Customers are coming back
this year after we were able to
respond quickly to them last
May 2011
the challenges faced have led to
refinement of its multi-channel
distribution strategy and the
addition of more key accounts
including ecommerce retailers,
specialty stores and a key highend cataloger. “We continued
promoting to our other channels — contract, hospitality and
the design trade,” Edmonson
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shade feature
Shade Solutions
said. “Not being dependent on
just one or two channels benefited us during these challenging years.”
Ultimately across the shade
industry, challenging times
have provided opportunities
for innovation and growth. For
example, Fiberlite Umbrellas plans to continue product
designs based on Ray Sweet
Sr.’s patented fiberglass frame
umbrella as the company positions itself for the future. “Our
primary niche is commercial
applications due to the quality
of our products,” Glaser said.
“Sales growth has been consistent, and 2010 was one of best
years ever.”
For FLEXX, technology has
been instrumental in product
development and is a key factor going forward. “We will
continue to look at ways to
improve our product as well
as to develop new unique merchandise,” Mehlman said. “We
realize that we need to stay
at the forefront of technological advances in our industry
to continue to be a leader and
grow.”
New products were not an
area in which the segment
pulled back during challenging
times. As the shade category
ramps up for the upcoming
show season, expect more innovations to be unveiled.
For TUUCI, Clarke thinks
the new Plantation MAX Cantilever featuring an inventive
Aluma-TEAK finish is cause
for excitement. “It speaks to the
ultimate outdoor experience
and represents the imaginative engineering that makes
our shade products uniquely
TUUCI,” Clarke said.
In the contract area, California Umbrella is adding a
Treasure Garden’s new products for 2011 include the 10-ft. Shanghai
umbrella with collar tilt function and Sasian Parchment fabric by Sunbrella.
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Cantilever designs are among
the new introductions for California Umbrella this season.
new series with marenti wood,
which offers teak-like performance with half the cost. The
company is also expanding its
line of cantilevers by adding
large and budget options, including an 8-ft. model at a $100
quantity price point.
Fiberlite will introduce the
Triton at this month’s HD Expo
in Las Vegas. This model is a
double-tiered umbrella offering
increased wind flow within a
contemporary design.
ShadeScapes Americas is
launching 13 shade designs
to the contract industry this
season. “We worked with existing manufacturing partners
to develop and launch new
shade collections from Umbrosa, Woodline and May Sunshades,” Edmonson said. “Each
collection offers cutting-edge
shade forms, moving us further
into the contemporary shade
segment.”
For Treasure Garden, introductions are being made in
every area of the manufacturer’s operation, from packaging to fabric collections. “Our
exclusive O’bravia furniture
fabric collection provides our
dealers with high-performance
fabrics and an excellent value
for the consumer,” Dorough
said.
May 2011
FLEXX umbrellas
feature a technological
improvement to the standard
market umbrella.
Galtech is adding a promotional-level aluminum umbrella that allows the company
to capture new sales markets
and dealers to hit attractive
price points.
“We are developing a line
of contract-grade umbrellas
that we will introduce later
this season,” FLEXX Market
Umbrella’s Mehlman said.
It was little-known author
Joshua J. Marine who said,
“Challenges are what make life
interesting; overcoming them
is what makes life meaningful.” For the shade industry,
ingenuity, vision and hard
work have been instrumental
in overcoming the numerous
challenges found in today’s
business climate. For many,
solving those challenges enabled them to soar to higher
altitudes.
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