Tropitone Launches Fully Woven Evo Seating Collection For The Hospitality Market

Irvine, Calif. May 8, 2008 – Tropitone Furniture Co., a leading manufacturer of fine casual furniture, is debuting the Evo Collection, a fully woven seating collection, for the hospitality market.

According to Michael Echolds, chief executive officer of Tropitone, with the Evo Collection the company is using its successful experience designing woven seating collections to offer luxury hotels and resorts an exceptionally versatile as well as durable and easy-to-maintain woven seating collection.

“Woven furniture, with its relaxed and leisurely look, has a strong appeal in the marketplace which has endured over many years. Tropitone has developed strong expertise in designing and manufacturing woven seating collections with the visual appeal of such natural materials as rattan or leather, but which are constructed with synthetic materials to make them durable enough for outdoor use. With the Evo Collection, we have used this expertise designing woven seating to offer the hospitality market a woven collection that is comfortable, well-crafted and good-looking,” Echolds said.

The Evo Collection is fully woven with a synthetic weave that surrounds a weather resistant, powder-coated aluminum frame. The collection includes a dining chair and chaise lounge, which are stackable, as well as a bar stool. It is offered in two colors – Kaffe, which is a dark brown/bronze color and Shadow, a black color -- and is available with padded seats for all three pieces in any of Tropitone’s more 150 fabric choices, or the customer’s own fabric.

According to Richard Holbrook, who designed Evo, the collection has a fresh, feminine style. “Evo is elegant with its subtly tapered legs and an arch at the back of the arm. It is a rich looking collection with a compatibility that visually complements a wide range of decors. Also, the product is easy on the environment, since the synthetic weave is made of polyethylene, which requires lower energy to process than PVC material, and it can also be recycled,” he said.

Echolds said that as the design leader in the hospitality market, Tropitone’s goal is to offer a wide variety of seating, dining and shade solutions so designers can come to Tropitone and find collections that are diverse yet complementary.

“The Evo Collection further expands this broad array of choices available to designers and specificers as they work to create highly functional and fashionable design solutions. For example, designers who are creating an outdoor setting for either casual, alfresco dining, or for socializing near the pool area, have the option of putting the Evo Collection together with a variety of Tropitone tables as well as shade solutions. This includes our patterned aluminum and cast aluminum tables as well as the table tops and pedestals in our Stoneworks™ Collection. Depending on the styles and finishes chosen, the setting created can be either traditional or contemporary.

“And with the introduction of our Portofino III umbrella, which features fiberglass arms supported by an aluminum pole and cast aluminum hubs to create exceptional ruggedness as well as resilience, Tropitone offers a shade solution in fabrics and finishes to complement the other pieces in the overall design solution,” he said.

The Portofino III umbrella is available in a 6-foot square shape and a 6-foot, 7-foot, 8-foot, and 9-foot hexagon shape. It is offered in a wide array of fabric choices and powder-coated finishes to complement the brown and white color options of the fiberglass arms.

Tropitone is debuting the Evo Collection and the Portofino III Umbrella as well as other new collections in booth #4203 at the HD 2008 Expo and Conference to be held May 15 – 17 at the Sands Convention 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