Luxury case goods, accessories and lighting manufacturer Carlos De Anda is looking to enter the U.S. market with a line of products made in its factories in Mexico City.
To help with the effort, the company has hired brand development and licensing expert Stephen Goodman as president of the company’s U.S. and Canada division. In this role, Goodman will help introduce the company to retailers and designers seeking an alternative source for luxury furnishings.
The line
Founded by Carlos De Anda in 1976, the line is handmade by artisans in Mexico and includes bedroom, dining room, occasional and home entertainment furniture. Today, the company is run by Carlos De Anda II and his brother, Enrique Bernardo De Anda, who does all the design work.
The company also produces fireplace tables and other occasional and dining tables that can be used outdoors or in indoor/outdoor rooms thanks to their inclusion of mixed media elements, such as glass, stone and acrylic fiber.
Beds in the line range from $5,700 to $9,500, according to prices on the company’s website. (These estimates are based on conversions from the price listings in pesos to U.S. dollars. All prices are retail.)
Dining tables shown on the company’s website range from about $1,699 for a round table that seats four to just over $6,000 for a rectangular glass-top table that seats 10.
Expanding the company’s reach
Goodman told Home News Now that he was connected with Carlos De Anda through a friend who has purchased product from the manufacturer in the past. As the company got to know Goodman and his work, executives asked him to help introduce the brand to the United States and Canada.
Goodman is the founder and managing member of SRG Ventures LLC, which he started in 2007 as a business and brand development company that helps emerging brands establish their presence in new markets. SRG also assists companies in developing strategies to help them grow in new markets through marketing, sales and product design initiatives, along with celebrity brand management and intellectual property management.
He also has many years of experience in the apparel industry, where he started his career in the family business of Ben Goodman & Son, an apparel importer founded in 1896, where he worked from 1973 to 1983.
According to his LinkedIn profile, he founded Command Sales in 1983, a wholesale and marketing business representing U.S. and international brands in men’s and women’s apparel. He also was founder and president of Azzura Inc., where he worked with Dupont Fabrics to design and sell some of the first women’s cotton/Lyra leggings in the United States. Azzura also later developed an entire contemporary sportswear collection.
While Goodman is new to the furniture business, he said he has approached various interior decorators, along with major retailers in Florida about the brand. He said he has sent them information, images and other marketing materials from the company’s catalog and website.
Carlos De Anda has shown at trade fairs in Guadalajara and Mexico City, where Goodman said it made some contacts with U.S. retailers.
The brand also is developing a new lower-priced division and product line that would be sourced offshore, he said.
For more information, contact Goodman at steve@srgventures.com or visit the company website.
