All the pieces of the puzzle are there. Bold Furniture has a solid reputation as an OEM manufacturer. It has a combined 1 million square feet of manufacturing and expertise bending metal and creating products for the industry. But the company never really had a furniture line of its own.
Bold Furniture tried to launch its own brand in 2014 with the introduction of its Bold One desk, a height-adjustable take on the tanker desk designed by Joey Ruiter with storage components that lifted along with the table. It is a great product and won a NeoCon Gold award when it was introduced.
The capacity was there and so was Bold’s first product, but it didn’t have the structure, distribution and relationships to launch. Fast forward to today. Bold Furniture is going to make another run at marketing its own line of furniture. What’s different today compared to that first stunted run a decade ago? Bold now has a veteran team in place to ensure long-term success.
The renewed push to launch a Bold Furniture brand is being led by a team that includes President Todd Folkert; Mike Kelley, formerly of Enwork, Knoll and izzy+, Scott Reus, formerly MS Metals Work and izzy+ and Libby Ferin, formerly of HAT Collective, Steelcase and Herman Miller. Sales, marketing and design departments are being established and the company is building a solid sales rep group to sell its furniture — mostly desking and storage products.
Bold will not be the same old furniture company the industry is used to. Since they are essentially starting the brand from scratch, it is being structured in a novel new way that offers a standard statement of line, the ability to customize as well as shop from strategic partnerships. In addition, Bold will handsomely reward reps for selling Bold products. And since Bold has expertise in OEM work, major dealers will be able to effectively add their own custom products that will be built by Bold.
With its impressive manufacturing operation in Muskegon, Mich., Bold’s expertise lies in specials and custom projects. So why not offer major dealers the chance to develop their own house brands and high-margin products? While Bold will have its own furniture lines to lead with, it will also has the ability to create highly specialized products that are limited only by the imagination of the designer.
“We’ve really paid attention to all the workplace research,” said Kelley when asked why a designer should pick Bold. “It’s research based product development and paying attention to JLL and CBRE and the future of workspace. The products that we are launching are appealing to the design community for a variety of reasons. Simplicity, privacy, and future-forward power system will allow for maximum flexibility. Our new product line we’re introducing at Neocon is a simple kit of parts, three different levels of privacy and power distribution, different styles of desking that plug into it, and a variety of really cool storage pieces.”
Bold is focused on the details as well. For example, we are designing systems that allow for up to to 16 workstations to be connected via a single 15 amp plug. Kelley said products are human centered. Instead of using panel module dimensions, they are using “people dimensions,” he said. And instead of offering a limited color palette, Bold has the ability to powder coat in virtually any color the designer wants and in finishes ranging from gloss to matte.
“So it’s color, texture, finish. Designers know what they are doing and they will really be able to personalize spaces,” he said.
Bold Furniture unofficially relaunched as a contract office brand at NeoCon last year, but had limited product to show at the time. When the company officially relaunches as a brand at NeoCon this year, it will not only be with a full collection of products, said Ferin but with a compelling brand story and unique value proposition to our market. Bold will continue to offer OEM services. It counts many of the largest office furniture makers as its customers. It will also have Bold Studio for its custom products and partner relationships to give customers a one-stop shopping experience. Bold will continue to work with designers like Ruiter as it develops more products.
So how is an upstart furniture brand able to attract industry veterans like Kelley and Ferin? Simple. The thrill of rethinking and rebuilding a brand from scratch and do things nimbly and differently, Ferin said.
“The opportunity to do something different is right in front of us,“ she said. “Bold has been successful doing the same thing for the last 25 years, We see the chance now to do something different in contract office. We’re ready to grow something special.