Tropitone Expands Its Best- Selling Palladian Seating Collection
Now Includes The Woven Look Of Leather
Irvine, Calif., April 27, 2006 – Tropitone Furniture, a leading manufacturer of fine casual furniture, has added further versatility and style to its popular Palladian Café seating collection with the debut of Palladian Woven while also offering a new 6-ft. square Portofino umbrella.
According to Michael Echolds, chief executive officer of Tropitone, the Palladian Café seating collection’s wide array of style options offers designers tremendous selection and opportunity for creativity.
“Tropitone has a long-standing commitment to facilitate designers’ need to achieve artistically inspired but highly-functional solutions. We think Palladian has enduring appeal in the hospitality marketplace because it offers designers an unusual variety of styles from which to choose -- all in one collection. Palladian Woven, with a seat that is constructed to resemble the texture and richness of leather but with the durability required for outdoor use, offers designers another distinctive solution,” Echolds said.
As with all of Tropitone’s products, the Palladian furniture frame that the woven material surrounds is powder-coated aluminum to resist corrosion and the elements. The woven material in the collection is made by melting colored vinyl and then extruding it around an inner core of polyester thread. This is the same construction as in the Textilene material used in Tropitone’s furniture since 1978.
However, the company’s new woven material featured in Palladian Woven consists of two woven shapes – a twisted cord weave as well as a wide, flat weave. This wider, flat weave and the twisted cord are woven together by hand to make a seat. Then another color that coordinates with the base color is applied to the woven material using a patina process.
According to Peter Homestead, Tropitone’s vice president of design, “because of the density of the woven material in the Palladian Woven seating system, it has the rich, textured appearance of leather as well as a casual warmth typically associated with such natural materials as wicker and rattan.
“And in contrast to Palladian Woven’s very classic and refined visual appeal, the woven material used in its construction is exceptionally rugged with the durability and functionality required for the high-use patio, poolside and beach settings of today’s resorts and hotels,” Homestead said.
The colors that Tropitone has chosen for the Palladian Woven seating are Saddle and Bisque, which work well with many of the frame finishes and fabrics in Tropitone’s extensive, complementary color palette. Palladian Cast is available in three designs: Arches, X-Back and Double-C and with three seat options in addition to the woven seat -- aluminum cast, vinyl strap and a tight seat.
According to Echolds, Tropitone is also debuting a café-sized umbrella ideally suited for outdoor cafes and side-walk bistros. The 6-ft square Portofino umbrella is available in a variety of heights and in any of Tropitone’s 16 finish options with matching bases.
“Portofino’s silhouette is graceful, yet with its reinforced aluminum arms it also has a rugged durability. In addition, restaurateurs have the option of customizing the valances on Portofino with logos, and the cover can be made with alternating fabrics. And to create a more dramatic and festive setting, we’re offering a variety of lighting options as well,” Echolds said.
Tropitone is debuting Palladian Woven and the new Portofino Umbrella as well as other seating, table top and shade solutions in booth # 4403 at the HD 2006 Expo and Conference held April 27-29 at the Sands Expo and Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Founded in 1954, Tropitone is based in Irvine, California, and is recognized throughout the casual furniture marketplace for its design leadership as well as its commitment to service and value. The company sells its products to retailers, designers and the hospitality trade under the Tropitone and Basta Sole trademarks. In addition to its headquarters and manufacturing plant in Irvine, the company operates a manufacturing facility in Sarasota, Florida