Tropitone Debuts Three Uniquely Styled Sling Seating Collections

Tropitone Furniture Co., a leading manufacturer of fine casual furniture, announced today that it is debuting three additional sling seating collections to offer consumers three new and distinctively unique designs from which to choose for their patio seating and outdoor rooms.

According to Michael Echolds, Tropitone’s chief executive officer, sling seating has remained a major product category for Tropitone over the years. Today, the company offers the broadest selection of sling seating available in the marketplace, all of which can be coordinated with the company’s extensive table and tabletop collections as well as it shade products.

“We have continued to evolve and re-engineer our sling seating with the goal of offering customers extraordinary comfort and a wide selection of fashionable fabrics and frame finishes. With Tropitone’s decades of experience manufacturing sling seating, we have developed a clear understanding of how to design and construct sling seating to create the greatest comfort. For example, anyone who has ever sat in a Tropitone sling chair can feel the superior lumbar support that has become a hallmark feature of our sling seating,” Echolds said.

Tropitone also was the first in the casual furniture industry to offer a free sling replacement program for certain items, which allows consumers to update or replace their worn or damaged sling fabric -- free of charge.

The three new sling collections – Stone Harbor, Ovation and Sea Breeze -- are designed to satisfy a range of consumers’ preferences in styles. Stone Harbor was designed by Robert Manville while Frederic Doughty designed Ovation and Sea Breeze.

According to Manville, the inspiration for the traditional style of the Stone Harbor sling collection came from the skilled American woodworking artisans of the 18th and 19th centuries. These artisans crafted the fishing boats and sailing ships found along the New Jersey shore as well as the decorative hand rails and balconies of the early American homes of such seashore communities as Stone Harbor.

“The Stone Harbor sling collection has a delicate balance of curved and straight lines,” Manville said, “with a decorative finial on the X-shaped bottom brace of the chair as well as an ornamental detail on the arms that looks as though it was spun on a woodworker’s lathe. The frame of Stone Harbor is wide and features broad arm rests, but it is a strong and substantial chair without being heavy,” he said.

The Stone Harbor sling collection includes a dining chair with either a high or low back, a swivel rocker with either a high back or low back, a bar stool, action lounger, double gilder, chaise lounge and ottoman. Stone Harbor is also offered with Tropitone’s exclusive “TropiKane™ woven seating surface, which creates the rich, textured look of leather, yet has the durability necessary for outdoor use. TropiKane™ is woven using a twisted cord weave and a wide flat weave both made from synthetic materials with an antiquing stain applied by hand.

In comparison to the Stone Harbor collection, the more contemporary style of Doughty’s Ovation sling has a formal look that radiates a simple elegance with its long, gently curved legs and dramatic, well-defined oval castings on its wide and slightly crowned-shaped arms. “Ovation has a beautiful and timeless silhouette with a gracious and inviting sophistication, yet the chair is also exceptionally strong and comfortable,” Doughty said. As a designer, Doughty says he works to incorporate functional elements into his furniture that also have visual appeal. For example, with Ovation, the functional elements that make the chair strong and durable, yet eye-appealing, include the large oval castings at both the front and back of the arms of the chair as well as an extra wide stretcher on the back of the chair.

Ovation is available in a wide range of seating options, including chaise lounges, dining chairs, patio chairs and bar stools. Tropitone also offers an Ovation cushion collection which features two unique deep-seating pieces – a generously proportioned lounge chair and a half, and an extra wide ottoman and a half – in addition to a swivel rocker, action lounger, chaise lounge, dining chairs, ottoman and sofa.

The Sea Breeze collection designed by Doughty is expected to have broad-based consumer appeal with its soft, sensuous curves. “There is not a straight line to be found in Sea Breeze, and it is very easy to look at. Its feminine, hourglass form gives the collection a unique presence that is as delicate and graceful as a summer breeze skipping across the ocean’s waves,” he said.

Sea Breeze also is offered in a padded sling, which gives consumers the option of choosing some of their patio seating in the Sea Breeze sling with other seating, such as the chairs around the dining table, in the padded sling option to add a softer, upholstered look.

Both the sling and padded sling Sea Breeze collections are available in a wide range of seating options including a dining chair with a high back, swivel rocker with high back, swivel barstool, action lounger, ottoman and chaise lounge.

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