FURNITURE TODAY: Filling the Showroom: New company encompasses 3 rental, design brands
LOS ANGELES — Direct-to-consumer subscription furniture rental companies Fernish and Feather are now part of newly formed Showroom, which is focused on leveraging a shared software platform to supports its brands in the consumer and commercial furniture staging, interior design and rental spaces.
Fernish and Feather were acquired by Vesta, a luxury design studio that offers furnished rentals, home staging, interior design services and custom furniture manufacturing, which is also under the Showroom umbrella. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Together the three brands, with a combined 200 employees, service customers in the New York, Southern California, South Florida, San Francisco Bay area and Seattle, but also provide national e-commerce coverage.
Julian Buckner, co-founder of Vesta and founder and CEO of Showroom, said the platform that was created for Vesta to handle the technology needs and logistics and distribution for serving its high-end customer base was ready to be extended beyond luxury to assist companies with similar needs.
Looking at Los Angeles-based Fernish, Buckner said he saw a standalone DTC furniture rental business with a young Millennial, professional base. “That was an attractive base for us to interact with and put on the Vesta platform,” he said.
While Vesta could have built its own business aimed at the consumer markets served by Fernish and San Francisco-based Feather, “we didn’t want to dilute the Vesta brand,” he explained, making acquisitions the more viable option. “Showroom’s brand provides a full lifecycle solution,” he said, noting they now cover first-time renters to A-list celebrities.
With some similarities existing between the Fernish and Feather brands — both have a focus on sustainability and circularity, for instance — Buckner said they are already in the process of merging some services and standardizing the websites.
Although they continue to operate for now as separate consumer rental platforms, discussions are ongoing about transitioning them into one company or making Feather, which had a long relationship with co-working space provider WeWork before its recent bankruptcy, into the more business-oriented rental arm, he said.
Buckner pointed out that a large part of the Fernish team came over with the acquisition, including President and COO Kristin Toth.
Another area of transition likely under the acquisition involves the furniture that will be offered to consumers. Vesta has built out a global supply chain for its furniture that is used for both home staging and sales to high-end customers. It is starting to add Fernish and Feather into that mix.
“We will transition off of wholesale and into much more of our own design,” said Buckner. Currently, both Fernish and Feather websites mention that consumers can rent furniture from well-known brands Crate & Barrel, CB2 and EQ3.
Buckner said Vesta sources from furniture manufacturers in the United States, South America, Mexico, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, China and Europe.
Geographic growth is another area under consideration. The company already has projects underway in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Ariz.; Denver; Las Vegas; and Washington D.C. — all of which Buckner deemed “attractive markets.” Internationally, they have their eye on spots such as Dubai, London and Vancouver, he said.
“We are fortunate to be a profitable and growing business in an industry rocked by several high-profile failures in recent months,” said Buckner, referencing the closure of companies such as Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams. “We are looking forward to executing our strategy, which includes continuing to acquire complementary businesses across the design, rental, staging and related software verticals.”