Tropitone Acquires Sun West Creations

Furniture World Magazine

Tropitone Furniture Co. announced it has acquired Sun West Creations, a leading manufacturer of high quality, solid urethane tabletops based in San Jacinto, California. According to Michael Echolds, chief executive officer of Tropitone, this recent acquisition is consistent with Tropitone’s tradition of design leadership in the casual furniture marketplace while also offering the durability, service and value that today’s consumer expects "Consumers’ expectations of casual outdoor furnishings are trending toward a more ‘total look’ that brings the style found throughout the inside of their homes into their outdoor environment," Echolds said. "We believe the acquisition of Sun West Creations with its decorative faux stone and faux marble mosaic tabletops positions Tropitone to respond quickly and successfully to our customers’ increased interest in the decorative and functional aspects of their outdoor furniture." According to Echolds, until recently, the development of decorative design features in outdoor furniture has primarily focused on chairs and seating pieces. Now with the Sun West Creations acquisition, Tropitone can offer customers a wide array of choices in styles and sizes in tabletops that allow the consumer to dramatically change the entire look of their furniture set. With the Sun West tabletops, consumers can go beyond the traditional glass tabletop and include faux stone and faux marble mosaic tile with their casual furniture. Tropitone identified several factors that attracted it to the Sun West Creations tabletop product. Most importantly, said Peter Homestead, vice president of design at Tropitone, is that the product is based on a proven technology. "Having been developed in the Southwestern United States, this high-density urethane product resists expansions and contractions in extreme temperature changes and is constructed to protect the finish and color integrity from the effects of UV rays as well as to resist stains. These types of tabletops are currently in use at many upscale resorts," Homestead said. "In addition, the materials used in manufacturing the product are highly flexible from a design standpoint. This gives Tropitone the opportunity to create many other exciting product innovations. This includes a faux granite tabletop product which Tropitone has recently launched to complement the existing Sun West faux stone and faux marble mosaic tile tabletop offerings," Homestead said. Echolds said the Sun West Creations acquisition also creates an operational advantage for Tropitone. "Since the casual outdoor furniture business is very time sensitive, Tropitone wanted more control over "time-to-market" product production as well as the quality of our tabletop products. One of the lessons we’ve learned from past experience is that out-sourcing this aspect of our product offering to third party manufacturers can negatively impact our service levels," he said. "The Sun West Creations acquisition expands both our manufacturing and design capabilities and makes it possible for Tropitone to offer a range of innovative, high-quality tabletop products based on a proven technology," Echolds said. "Bob Bales, who founded Sun West Creations and who developed this innovative product, will continue to be instrumental in the business going forward. We are excited about the expertise that Bob brings to Tropitone, and we look forward to building on the success this product has already achieved in the marketplace under Bob’s leadership," he said. The Sun West Creations products are lighter than stone so they can be installed on any base, provided it has horizontal supports. The tabletops are offered in a wide range of sizes, shapes and colors not currently available in the marketplace. While there are similar products in the market which may appear to be visually comparable to the Sun West Creations product, they do not contain the same unique and proprietary blend of materials and additives. Therefore, they do not offer the same durability and value.