ATLANTA-BASED CONTRAD INDUSTRIES INC. HAS LEVERAGED ITS INITIAL SUCCESS IN THE JAPANESE HOME FURNISHINGS MARKET TO EXPAND INTO MOST OF THE PACIFIC RIM’S FASTEST GROWING ECONOMIES.
CONTRAD’S FOUNDER, GEORGE LIU, SAID HIS PRIVATELY-HELD FIRM EXPECTS TO DO ALMOST $5 MILLION IN SALES IN 1996, ALL IN ASIA. THE COMPANY, FORMED IN 1990 AFTER MR. LIU LEFT ARTHUR ANDERSEN & CO., TAPPED THE EXPERTISE AND CONTACTS AT THE ATLANTA OFFICE OF JETRO (THE JAPANESE EXPORT TRADE OFFICE) SHORTLY AFTER ITS FOUNDING TO BREAK INTO THE JAPANESE MARKET.
“WHEN WE STARTED, 90% OF OUR BUSINESS WAS IN JAPAN. IN THE LAST TWO YEARS WE’VE GROWN INTO KOREA, SINGAPORE, TAIWAN, MALAYSIA AND OTHER PACIFIC RIM COUNTRIES,” SAID MR. LIU. HE ESTIMATED JAPANESE SALES NOW ACCOUNT FOR ONLY HALF THE COMPANY’S REVENUES.
CONTRAD WORKS WITH MORE THAN 15 AMERICAN MANUFACTURERS OF READY TO ASSEMBLE (RTA) FURNITURE AND HOME ACCESSORIES, MANY IN THE SOUTHEAST. “IN THE EARLY DAYS, WE SOLD LOTS OF OFFICE FURNITURE AND ENTERTAINMENT CENTERS,” HE TOLD GLOBALFAX. BUT IN THE LAST TWO YEARS THE PRODUCT MIX HAS SHIFTED TO INCLUDE HOME ACCESSORIES, SUCH AS SMALL THROW RUGS AND AREA RUGS.
ONE LARGE CLIENT, HE SAID, IS ITO-YOKADO, WHICH ALONG WITH OTHER MASS MERCHANDISERS IS BEING JOINED BY ASIAN MAIL ORDER HOUSES IN BUYING DIRECT FROM CONTRAD, A DEPARTURE FROM USING THE MID-LEVEL DISTRIBUTORS WHO WERE THE COMPANY’S ORIGINAL CUSTOMERS.
MR. LIU MAY BE REACHED AT (404) 367-9700, OR FAX TO (404) 367-9800.
BY PHILIP CAMPBELL