Asia’s largest office furniture maker, Sunon, continues to build its capabilities and reputation in the U.S. market. The office furniture maker recently relaunched and updated its showroom in Irvine, Calif. and is opening an expanded warehouse in Dallas, which will work hand-in-hand with its factory in Mexico and builds on its already significant investment in North America.
In a bold move, Sunon also is opening a showroom in Chicago’s Fulton Market, where it will go head-to-head with industry majors like Steelcase, MillerKnoll, OFS and others — yet another example of how the company is a growing part of the office furniture industry here.
None of this is by accident. Sunon has invested in North America for years, creating a strong foundation that includes showrooms and design centers and experienced people who are working to expand the brand through U.S. dealers. The company opened a factory in Monterrey, Mexico, ensuring faster delivery to the North American market without reliance on shipments from Asia.
The factory, along with the expanded warehouse in Dallas, means Sunon can offer competitive lead times on par with other North American manufacturers. The plan is for the Dallas warehouse to be open by early June, said Regional Sales Director Will Zhu.
“It will be a huge benefit,” he said. “It will take one or two days to have production from Mexico arrive in the Dallas warehouse.”
The plant in Mexico will work hand in hand with the Dallas warehouse to make sure Sunon products can be delivered anywhere in North America with competitive lead times. It will allow Sunon to support fast-turnaround projects and provide a greater variety of products to its customers.
The Dallas warehouse is fully operated and managed by Sunon employees to ensure a better client experience, the site selected will suppoort Sunon as they comtinue to expand in North America allowing for up to 100,000 square feet of warehousing facilities.
This commitment to a solid infrastructure puts Sunon in a strong position compared to other office furniture makers who have tried to enter the North American market from Europe and Asia. Sunon has worked in the U.S. for more than 20 years, mostly as an OEM to U.S. brands.
Because Sunon opened its Irvine showroom in 2020, right as the pandemic was beginning, they never really had an opportunity to throw a big party or celebrate its opening. So the company decided to refresh the showroom with new products and a new look and hold one this year, said Carmen Sarratt, Sunon’s regional sales manager for Florida and Georgia.
“We wanted to get some of our current clients and new clients out to see the showroom. So we had a big, fun relaunch event and had a party — a three day affair. We had a big dinner and we had a Q&A session with some experts from around the country. They were able to share their insights and trends they’re seeing,” she said.
The showroom relaunch event included 40-50 customers (dealer principals and leadership, designers, salespeople, architects and commercial real estate executives). In addition to an overview of Sunon and its capabilities, guests also participated in traditional Chinese creative projects like knot tying and Chinese calligraphy. There was a banquet dinner and evening party and local excursions in Orange County, including a boat trip and wine tasting.
The Irvine showroom is Sunon’s hub in the U.S. and it is encouraging visits from dealer and customer groups. Sarratt brought her customers from the Southeast and other regional managers from around the country brought clients to the showroom as well. “We’ve started a big initiative this year to get some of the larger A&D firms (to the showroom and factory),” she said. “I’ve brought a few out to Monterrey and California and they’re instantly wowed. I received a large project from the first design principal that came out.”
The combination of the showrooms, factory and warehouse will boost confidence in the Sunon brand and help the company win projects in the U.S., said Sarratt.
“The quicker we can get the products out the more business we will get,” she said. “So both the in-stock program, which is the five to 10 days and the Monterrey (lead times of) four to six weeks is going to increase business and absolutely it’ll increase the number of projects that we are brought into.”
All of these investments are designed to boost the Sunon brand. Although Sunon is a global company and is the largest furniture maker in many markets it serves, it isn’t as well known in North American. Seeing is believing, said Jessica Rembert, Sunon’s U.S. brand marketing manager. So the more designers and customers experience Sunon, the more they will trust the brand and buy from them.
Sunon already counts some of the largest companies in the world as its customers. Sunon’s world headquarters is in Hangzhou, China, a thriving city that is home to Alibaba and a growing Chinese tech industry. Alibaba Founder Jack Ma sits at a Sunon desk and on a Sunon chair, as do almost all of its employees. Alibaba is just one of an impressive group of Sunon customers, both domestic and abroad, that also includes Amazon, Google, Tencent, Ace, Huawei, Coca-Cola, WeWork, Ford, Tata, Heineken, Pepsico and others.
“We need to bring people to our spaces and have them engage with our team directly,” said Rembert. “The in-person piece is really crucial for our company in order to build that trust and build that credibility,” she said. “So for me, hosting the event in February was huge and that built a ton of goodwill and builds that trust and relationship with our team.”
It remains to be seen what tariffs will be put into effect, but Sunon believes its prices will always be competitive that the tariffs won’t affect its sales. Sarratt said she is actively communicating with customers and keeping them up to date on how Sunon is handling the tariffs.
In the meantime, Sunon continues to build its market. The next step is its 13,000 square foot showroom in Fulton Market, which is expected to open sometime this summer. The Chicago location will be the second showroom in the U.S. and will help with customer tours for the eastern half of the country, a much more convenient location than Irvine for customers in key markets like Florida, Georgia, New York and Philadelphia.