Darafeev To Introduce "Home Resort Furniture" Concept At Las Vegas Market

Furniture World Magazine

With real estate values rising in recent years, many people across the nation have joined the home improvement craze, transforming their piece of the American dream into a home resort. To help facilitate this trend, Darafeev Resort Furniture announced that the company will now offer a line of customized pieces, including a variety of luxury chairs, barstools, blackjack bars and multi-use dining tables that reverse to poker and bridge game surfaces. Paul Darafeev, president if the 49 year old company noted that "The Darafeev brand, known worldwide for its classic beauty – features a distinctive California style with a touch of Old World Russian royalty. It is a perfect accouterment for yacht, country and golf clubs, as well as upscale homes. "We believe," he continued, "that the time is right to promote “home resort” as a category to furniture retailers. Considering the high price of travel, and the desire to entertain family and friends in the comfort and security of ones home, this is a concept whose time has come." The California-based company, Mikhail Darafeev, Inc., will unveil their new “home resort showroom” at the Las Vegas home furnishings market July 30 – Aug. 3. Located at the World Market Center on the first floor of Building A, space A132, the Darafeev Resort Furniture showroom will feature a variety of dining/poker tables to accommodate the growing number of homeowners who are opting to entertain at home over dinner and a game of chance. The decision to re-brand Darafeev and to use the designation “resort” evolved from the fact that resorts demand luxurious, comfortable chairs and barstools, as do upscale private homes. The term “resort” invokes a sense of luxury, and appeals to the affluent. The dynamic change at the company, a premier worldwide brand, comes amid a meteoric rise in the popularity of poker and other games. Along with a variety of gaming tables, the company’s renowned reputation has been built on chairs and barstools, crafted from quality hardwoods, that are built to last. Many of the Darafeev stools end up at counters in luxury kitchens. It only makes sense that a homeowner who spends $100,000 or more for a custom kitchen should not have to settle for poor quality seating. "Many furniture and dinette stores still consider stools expendable items," added Walter Huhn, Director of Sales and Marketing who recently joined Darafeev. "They only last only a few years and then need to be replaced. They therefore relegate them to the cheap dinette department. Today, we can revise this to confidently show furniture retailers how to sell a thousand dollar barstool in a $99 world.” As the company unveils the Darafeev Resort Furniture Gallery, it also has joined the “Made in USA,” “California Made” and “Crafted in California” campaigns to promote luxury goods manufactured in the United States. Founded by a Russian-born expert chair maker, Mikhail Darafeev, the company is preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2009. Their Baldwin Park frame factory, built by the founder in 1969, is still producing some of the finest frames in the industry. To learn more about the company’s history, log onto the Web at www.craftedincalifornia.com/darafeev. For a catalogue, photos and more information about the company’s products, log onto www.darafeev.com. “Darafeev is an expert chair maker, a claim which few furniture manufacturers can make, especially lately,” Paul Darafeev said. “A barstool is basically a chair, with a tall base. We manufacture tables and bars, as an accessory to the chairs and stools. We think that a Texas Hold’em table is a great way to sell eight chairs. A blackjack bar can sell three or four more stools, and perhaps a bartender stool. Most of our tables and bars have multiple purposes. Our poker/dining tables may have an optional chess or backgammon inlay built into the dining surface. With the bumper pool option, you remove the top altogether, pull the chairs away, and play a game that the whole family can enjoy.” As part of its new focus, Darafeev Resort Furniture is also selling its new line to yacht, golf, and country clubs. Darafeev recently provided the perfect solution to the Valley Hunt Club in Pasadena. The club hosts lunches and dinners for its members, which are followed by bridge games and tournaments. Previously, they served a meal, then cleared the room, moved the dining tables out, and brought the bridge tables in. Darafeev offered the perfect solution by creating a bridge table with a reversible dining top. Now, they simply clear the table, flip the top and are ready to enjoy a game of bridge. The company, which made its mark in the billiard industry in the past two decades as master craftsmen of the “Finest Gameroom Furniture,” is re-branding itself with a new focus. In the past, furniture stores have had the false impression that Darafeev manufactured pool tables because of the emphasis on Game Room, which is another reason that Resort Furniture was chosen. At the Las Vegas World Market Center, the Darafeev Resort Furniture showroom on the main floor of building A will be open to the trade Monday through Friday. The company’s Dallas showroom has been very successful for almost 20 years, and this is a long overdue addition. Complementing the Darafeev line, the showroom will distribute various ‘best of class’ products that are ‘Made in the United States. Darafeev has also invited hundreds of interior designers and their clients from Russia and China to visit the showroom and enjoy a city that has become the favorite destination of the world’s wealthy. The Darafeev family believes that his passion and integrity will help grow the company, not only with existing dealers, but in the furniture stores that may be missing what Darafeev can bring to their bottom line. Darafeev Resort Furniture, which has factories in Chino and Baldwin Park, California, is known for its custom made, hardwood furniture frames, distinguished by outlasting the competition. The business' trademark ‘DaraFrame’ construction used in its chairs, tables and stools offers hardwood frames that are double-doweled and built to last. Customers have choices of 28 finishes, hundreds of in-stock fabrics and the “Darafeev Couture” online swatch program with almost 100,000 fabric selections. Customers also enjoy the most comfortable foam available, with flex bottom seats. For more information about the Las Vegas Market and accommodations, call 888-962-7469, or log onto the Web at http://www.lasvegasmarket.com/. The World Market Center is located at 495 S. Grand Central Parkway in Las Vegas.