What do you think is the best part of your line?
The best thing about Sherrill Furniture is the company’s commitment to American-Made quality furniture while at the same time providing a “family” type work environment. Since 1945, the Sherrill family has been building quality furniture that lasts generations while providing thousands of American jobs. Many of the skilled artisans in the Sherrill factory are third generation Sherrill employees. I am also third generation representing Sherrill as my grandfather, George, started working as a Sherrill rep back in the late 1950’s and my dad, Dan, recently retired from Sherrill after 45 years of traveling as a rep in the Upper Midwest. I take a tremendous amount of pride representing a company that has provided for my family and many others for three generations.
What do you have in your home right now? Details please!
We have mostly Sherrill and Mr. & Mrs. Howard for Sherrill Furniture upholstery in our house. A few years ago, we purchased two 9734-LFBL “Design Your Own” Sherrill sofas for our Living Room and they are more comfortable today than the day we bought them! The sofas are covered in a really nice heavy chenille type fabric called Tullover Tan that is still a current Sherrill fabric and wears exceptionally well. We also have eight of the H315AC Klismos Dining Chairs from Mr. & Mrs. Howard in a neutral/linen type fabric called Dundee Natural. We love these chairs as they have a ton of style while being an incredibly comfortable dining chair. We will also use these Klismos chairs when we have company over for extra seating.
What do you think the biggest hurdle is right now in the Home Furnishings industry?
One of the biggest challenges right now with the industry is bringing lead times back down to pre-pandemic levels. Sherrill Furniture is very much a “special order” company which depends on the consumer ordering custom made products. For the last two plus years, average lead times went up significantly as demand increased while supply chain issues persisted. This dynamic negatively affected our “special order” business as consumers weren’t willing to wait on a custom order. Recently, demand has softened somewhat, and lead times are starting to come back down closer to what our typical lead times would have been pre-pandemic. Sherrill Upholstery lead times are now around 10-12 weeks for new orders which should really help to regain some of our “special order” business. Having a better balance between in-stock/inventory sales and “special order” sales will be healthy and a positive for both manufacturers and showrooms going forward.