About Bolier Furniture
Bolier & Co is a high end manufacturer of
contemporary and classic furniture. If the look reminds you of Baker,
it’s because Christian Plasman, the head of Bolier Furniture, used to be
the president of Baker Furniture. Bolier partners with Decca Holding
company, a Hong Kong company.
Bolier & Co imports its furniture from Thailand and
China. Before that makes you think that it’s low end, think again. The
quality is extremely high and the prices are, well, pretty high end. We
find the upholstery to be reasonable, so are the occasional pieces, but
the larger items such as bed, dining table are of high quality and
priced accordingly.
Our favorite collections from Bolier are the
Domicile and the Rosenau collection. Domicile is a wonderful
contemporary line—cleaned-lined and elegant. Rosenau is a bit more
traditional but leans toward more a modern look.
We are often asked about the fabric choices for
Bolier Furniture. We find their fabric selection to be limited. For our
design clients, we normally choose the COM (customer own material
option), as it gives us more range and flexibility.
Bolier Furniture includes the following
collection:
Request
Pricing for Bolier Furniture
Bolier Web Site
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The following is an article from Furniture Today regarding Bolier
Furniture:
Bolier venture importing high-end Chinese product
By Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, 12/22/2003
High Point— With Chinese manufacturers already growing their market
share in case goods at middle to upper-middle price points, it was only
a matter of time before more started probing the premium end.
That's what's taking place at Bolier & Co., a venture between former
Baker Furniture president Christian Plasman and Decca Furniture Ltd.,
which until supplying Bolier was an almost exclusively high-end contract
manufacturer with a plant in Guangdong province, China. Bolier also
offers upholstered product made in High Point.
Plasman began putting the company together two years ago, shortly after
leaving Baker. He had been familiar with Decca Furniture before he
joined Baker.
"In 1993, I licensed them to make licensed contract product in Asia for
HBF," he said, referring to contract manufacturer Hickory Business
Furniture, where he was president. "When I visited them in the early
'90s, it was obvious to me they were a fine, fine furniture maker. We
maintained contact."
Decca, a 35-year-old company that is traded publicly on the Hong Kong
Stock Exchange, was a pioneer among Hong Kong manufacturers in mainland
China, leasing land more than 10 years ago for its plant, which now
covers 1 million square feet.
"Until now, they did almost exclusively contract cabinet making and
woodwork," Plasman said.
The company provided, for example, all the panel work for the new
Philadelphia concert hall. Its contract work requires tight production
tolerances and strict adherence to specifications, and he believed that
could carry over into residential furniture, especially when combined
with Decca's veneer and finish craftsmanship.
"They have the finest veneer inventory and veneer storage I've seen
anywhere," Plasman said. "Every flitch is stored in a lightproof box so
there's no UV penetration. Everything is climate-controlled to prevent
moisture penetration. ... And they have outstanding craftspeople."
Decca also makes all its hardware for the case goods.
In product, the Bolier & Co. strategy is to offer exclusively designed
furniture that buyers don't count on seeing from China, at prices that
while decidedly high-end, still offer value for the quality of the
workmanship.
Rosenau, Bolier's first collection, is a Biedermeier-inspired collection
in swirl mahogany veneers with inlay of sepele, a wood in the mahogany
family.
"It's a modern sensibility with traditional elements," Plasman said.
"Some of the forms come directly from 19th century but have a modern
feel."
Domicile is a large-scale yet clean, straight-lined contemporary
collection in maccassar ebony veneers. An armoire retails for $5,995 and
a 72-by-48-inch cocktail table for $3,995.
Another group, Arlanda, highlights mid-18th century Gustavian designs
from Sweden.
"We wanted to show values in wood finishes and how they can work with
cerejera mahogany, and natural light burl with discreet gilding,"
Plasman said. "Again it's traditional with a Modernist look and European
and American walnut on bedroom pieces. Every market we'll add occasional
pieces to it that make sense for us."
He said the company has been shipping containers to several customers
for nine months, but the October market was its first full showing at
High Point. Bolier & Co. (Bolier is Plasman's grandmother's maiden name)
has 12 representatives covering the U.S. market coast-to-coast.
"We've been in business a year and we're getting our sea legs," Plasman
said. "We took orders from a significant number of designer showrooms in
addition to retailers at October market."
The company has a warehouse in High Point and offers container direct
service and FOB North Carolina shipping for smaller retailers. Container
customers can also fill stock from the North Carolina inventory.
"We're on a six- to eight-week manufacturing cycle, then three weeks on
the water, so we're getting the container to the retailer in less than
12 weeks," Plasman said. "For our FOB North Carolina in-stock program,
the goal is never more than four weeks (for delivery)."
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