Tropitone moves in bold design direction with its sleek, stainless steel, Cabana Club Collection
The modular pieces of Cabana Club create unusual flexibility for consumers, since they can be configured into geometric space solutions or traditional seating groups.
Irvine, Calif., August 31, 2007 – Tropitone Furniture Co., a leading manufacturer of fine casual furniture, announced today the introduction to the retail market of its award-winning Cabana Club seating collection aimed at offering consumers a strikingly modern and modular casual furniture collection designed around a stainless steel frame rather than the company’s traditional extruded aluminum frame.
According to Michael Echolds, chief executive officer of Tropitone, while the choice of stainless steel for the Cabana Club collection represents a dramatic new approach for Tropitone, it is consistent with the company’s commitment to be a design leader in the casual furniture marketplace as well as a pioneer in the use of materials. Tropitone believes it is the only major manufacturer of casual furniture to offer a complete stainless steel collection designed as a modular system with seating pieces which can be assembled in a variety of different seating arrangements. The collection has won top honors for outdoor seating from the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and Hospitality Design Magazine.
“Before the emergence of the outdoor room, most of the time we spent in the outdoors at our homes was centered around casual summer dining and lounging by the pool in the afternoon sun. As the outdoor room experience has grown in popularity during recent years, outdoor living has become nearly synonymous with indoor living. As a result, consumers are looking for a greater variety of outdoor furnishings from which they can choose to accommodate many different uses, whether the occasion is an elegant alfresco dinner, a leisurely after-dinner conversation, or a cocktail party at sunset.
“Being able to configure furniture to accommodate these different outdoor living experiences is important. For this reason, Cabana Club is designed to be very modular – its pieces can be can be mixed, matched, and moved around to create many different seating arrangements.
“In addition, many traditional styles of casual furniture collections are already available to consumers, but with the widespread interest in soft, contemporary styles today, Cabana Club fills an important need for those customers who prefer a more modern look,” Echolds said.
According to Richard Holbrook, who designed Cabana Club, the collection has a fresh and airy visual appeal which is enhanced by the soft, yet clean and concise shape of its slender cushions. These cushions take the form of rectangles, squares and triangles as they accommodate the geometric lines of the collection’s stainless steel frame, and they can be upholstered in over 300 different fabric choices available from Tropitone, including two faux leather selections, or any of the customers’ own materials. Constructed of a commercial-quality foam which drains easily and dries quickly, the Cabana Club cushions are supported in the frame of the furniture by a system of interwoven, heavy-gauge stainless steel wire.
“Cabana Club” Holbrook said, “ has a distinctively sophisticated style, yet it also is very versatile. In addition to the five pieces in the collection which can be arranged in a variety of seating configurations, the collection also includes a square chat table and a side table, each accented with a natural granite top. The smooth finish of the granite is a perfect complement to the subtle brushed surface of the stainless steel frame.
“Not only is Cabana Club a highly functional, durable and dramatic collection, the stainless steel frame is an environmentally-friendly material, since it can be recycled and does not require a finish,” Holbrook said.
Tropitone is introducing the Cabana Club collection to retailers during the upcoming International Casual Furniture and Accessories Market on September 17-21 in the company’s permanent showroom in space #1780 at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.
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.