Progressive Furniture showed the line of Mac Motion chairs at the front of its showroom during the June High Point Market.
CLAREMONT, N.C. — Progressive Furniture’s purchase of motion furniture resource Mac Motion earlier this year gives the case goods manufacturer a foothold in the motion category that supports its planned growth in the living room furniture segment.
The company completed the purchase by Jan. 1 but declined to announce it publically until recently, as it wanted to make sure it had secured enough inventory of Mac Motion’s China-made motion assortment. With booking containers a struggle, it has been a challenge getting product to the United States.
The purchase made sense for a number of reasons. For once, Progressive has a major presence in home entertainment and occasional furniture, so the seating line complements that living room mix. It also has a growing accent furniture line that can also be merchandised as part of this living room assortment.
Secondly, Mac Motion and Progressive both have a strong e-commerce business that creates efficiencies with the distribution of a product that ships in a single box.
“Last year, we saw it (e-commerce) increase because of COVID,” aid Dan Kendrick, president of Progressive Furniture, a division of Sauder. “It is becoming a really good portion of our business.”
He added that both companies also do well in the rental segment, another area of distribution that continues to grow. Kendrick said the product makes sense for brick and mortar stores too, including those with a growing ecommerce presence.
“This is a product that will work well for the direction brick and mortar stores are going as well,” he said.
Lastly, Kendrick noted, the purchase of an imported motion line is expected to serve as a strong component to Progressive’s planned expansion into residential upholstery.
“This complements the direction we are heading,” Kendrick said.
Mac Motion founder and previous owner Butch McCracken does not have a formal title with the company but will continue to be involved in product development. McCracken said his son, Tony McCracken, is involved on the sales side of the business, heading up the sales team for the line.
“Dan and I go back a long ways, and this couldn’t have been a better marriage for us,” Butch McCracken said. “We are excited; Progressive and their staff are great people to work with, and it has been a smooth transition. I couldn’t be happier.”
Kendrick said he is pleased to have McCracken on board given his extensive product development experience and relationships with the factories that produce the line.
“Mac Motion has a long history of developing unique and good quality products and we are just glad to have them on board as another channel that we can pursue,” Kendrick said.
Kendrick declined to reveal a purchase price for the company, but said that the purchase includes the name (which the company plans to keep), intellectual property, some proprietary patents and some inventory.
First view of the new line
Visitors at the June High Point Market saw the line upon entering the Progressive showroom, where the company had a full display of various models in the line.
“We have had containers start arriving at the beginning of May and have some coming in over the next few months,” said Kendrick. “By the fall we should be in really good shape.”
He said that reaction to the line was positive at market, as many customers had a chance to see the lineup for the first time in many months. As inventory is now available, customers also can purchase it directly from the company’s North Carolina warehouse.
Altogether, there are about 25 chairs in the line, retailing from $399 to $1,499. Chairs at the upper end of the line have swivel and reclining functionality and also come in various leather options. The higher priced models also are shipped with an ottoman.
Chairs at the lower end are available primarily in fabric and may swivel, but not recline. Models in between the starting and the upper end also swivel and recline, Kendrick noted.
June 24, 2021 at 05:45PM
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Progressive buys Mac Motion in a bid for new category - Furniture Today
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