Chris Miller, president of Fine Furniture Design, chats with Furniture Today’s Tom Russell to talk about the company’s new license with Esquire magazine and rounding out the design aesthetic from its Veranda collection launched in October 2018.
HIGH POINT — News of the closure of Fine Furniture Design, formerly Fine Furniture Design & Marketing, saddened but did not surprise many in the industry who have been loyal to a brand they said for years represented some of the finest quality imported wood furniture.
On Monday the company announced it was closing its U.S.-based offices and distribution facilities, ending weeks of speculation about the future of the business, a marketing and distribution arm of Fine Furniture Group, based in Shanghai.
Formed in 2000 by the late Laurence Moh, the company produced a line of case goods built in a 2.5 million-square-foot factory in the Shanghai area. This facility, which began shipping to the U.S. around March 2002, produced case goods and upholstery as well as wood flooring over the years.
Since Moh’s death in late 2002, the company has been run by his son Michael Moh. Under his leadership, the company became known not only for its quality, but also its designs, including lines bearing European traditional forms. Over time, it also evolved into coastal styles seen in its Summer Home collection and contemporary styles seen in its Runway and Cachet collections.
Yet traditional forms were a mainstay and among some of the driving force behind the success of licensed initiatives such as Raylen Vineyards and later Biltmore and Humphrey Bogart.
“I would say that over the years — and we were there from the beginning — they were a very important source for us of high quality imported product,” said Walter Smithe, of Top 100 Company Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design, of Itasca, Ill. “They were a great company.”
Yet he said that of late, Fine Furniture had not been as important a part of its assortment as it once was.
“We haven’t had anything that has worked for a long time, so it doesn’t surprise me,” Smithe said, noting that the company had not evolved to the types of lifestyle looks many of today’s consumers are seeking. “They haven’t been as important to us as they had been in the past. It is a shame they didn’t have more time to work it out. But the way the company was structured with that huge factory in Shanghai, and the (China) tariff situation, it was insurmountable.”
Jeff Harris, president and CEO of Top 100 Company Furnitureland South based in Jamestown, N.C., said he was saddened, yet not completely surprised to hear the news, given the challenges companies have had selling goods out of China.
“I would just say that we were very saddened to hear the news that this brand will no longer be part of our industry,” he said, noting that the store has carried Fine Furniture almost since its start and now has a 6,000 square-foot gallery devoted to the line. “In our opinion, it has been one of the greatest values in case goods we have had in our store. We are certainly going to look for other great brands and vendors that can fill that void. We have a lot of respect for Michael Moh and his family and what they have meant to this industry. They will be very much missed.”
As Harris noted, the disappearance of the line will mean a void on many upper end retailer floors. That includes Austin, Texas-based Louis Shanks Furniture, which also has carried the line since the start.
“We are very disappointed hearing they are shutting their doors,” said Mike Forwood, president. “They have been a good resource for us for a number of years and they developed some fine product. It leaves a hole in the marketplace for better end goods we are used to selling, such as Henredon and Drexel Heritage. This adds a new name to that list. I hope that at some point in time it ends.”
He said the void is particularly acute in higher end bedroom furniture and noted that Fine Furniture’s licensed Veranda assortment was one of the bestselling bedrooms in his store.
“It has been a fun line to work with,” he noted, adding that while tariffs may have raised the price a little, the line still did well, serving a niche in the marketplace.
“There are not many people chasing that game anymore,” he said of upper end goods produced overseas. “It is getting harder to find. The market has shrunk for it – unfortunately, it is not out there.”
The closure also marks the end of Fine Furniture’s Biltmore line, which first launched in April 2013.
“We have enjoyed working with everyone at Fine Furniture, and wish each of them the very best in their next careers, said Timothy Rosebrock, vice president and general manager of Biltmore Licensed Product. “Our partnership with Fine Furniture was a successful one, and included recent plans for expansion, but we understand their decision to close. We have already begun our assessment of where we will take our program in the furniture category and remain bullish about the future and power of the Biltmore brand. Biltmore is a 125-year-old cultural destination, and millions of consumers connect with the brand each year.”
Company officials including Michael Moh and Chris Miller, president, were not available to comment for this story. Those who have been informed of the closing by personal phone calls from Miller and/or their sales reps said the closing also includes the China factory and the company’s retail stores in China.
While the company achieved success with its quality and designs, observers note that it may have suffered when it came to stable leadership. Since its inception, it went through seven U.S. presidents or about one in nearly every three years.
The first was Jeff Young, a former Lexington Furniture executive who now is head of case goods and upholstery resource A.R.T. Furniture.
Young said that he was pleased to work with the company for a short two-year period, during which he was involved in helping start up the China factory with the company’s founder.
“It gave me the rare opportunity to work side by side with Larry Moh,” he said. “I was grateful for what I was able to learn being with Larry Moh those two years. It didn’t end the way we thought it would, but it was great to work with him and to see him in action.”
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