Vegas company reinvents itself to specialize in custom outdoor furniture — PHOTOS
If the ability to reinvent yourself is key to business success, Debbi Somers’ Las Vegas-based furniture company is a prime example. Somers Furniture began as a rental business supplying conventions.
“Then 9/11 happened, and people stopped traveling,” Somers said. The company shifted gears and began selling manufactured furniture to hotels. After the recession hit, the business went through another makeover, this time providing daybeds and lounges to the party pools where young adults were flocking.
Today, Somers and her team specialize in custom, locally made outdoor furniture for leading dayclubs and discerning homeowners. If you’ve visited a Las Vegas hotel pool, chances are high you’ve sat on one of the company’s products.
“It’s incredible that we have a local business that does such awesome work,” landscape architect Dennis Vang, who oversees high-end residential projects in neighborhoods like The Ridges in Summerlin, says of Somers. “Clients want to order custom stuff from Italy and I say no, we have a great manufacturer right here.”
Somers spoke with Real Estate Millions about the challenges of designing furniture to withstand Las Vegas’ scorching summers, and how homeowners can get the resort look for less.
Q: What’s the hardest part about designing high-quality outdoor furniture?
A: The biggest challenge is trying to keep up with the elements. We have 115-degree days here, and if you try to get a rattan that is plastic with a metal frame, it’ll melt. The hotels came to us and said, ‘We want it to look like rattan, but it can’t be rattan.’ We use a birch frame that we coat with wood treatment as if it’s going to stand alone, then put fabric on top of that so it doesn’t break down.
Q: What trends are you seeing?
A: Our clients are looking for furniture that blends with the indoors. Everybody used to use a metal frame and umbrella fabric and inside you had completely different manufacturers. Now, a lot of them have a lot of window exposure and you see the outside and inside at the same time. We try to find fabrics that are not screaming palm trees, that look exactly like what you’ve got inside — a lot of textures, weaves and blends.
We’re also seeing more entertainment furniture than we’ve had in years. It used to be that people went outside only to lie in the sun; now they want to entertain out there. It kind of makes your house twice as big when you can go outside and either dine or lounge.
Q: Prices on your custom daybeds can run from $3,000 to $10,000, depending on size and fabrics. Do you have any tips for homeowners who are on a budget, but still want to create a fabulous patio?
A: The first thing to keep in mind is what is going to withstand the abuse that furniture takes. If somebody wants a cabana, (he) can go to any hardware store and buy one and it’s knocked over in the first windstorm. Make sure you have a warranty on it and really read the fine print.
Think about what you’re going to do in the environment. Do you want to dine? Lie out? Have conversation? If you’re going to entertain, how many people do you usually have? If you always have 10 people over, don’t go with a table that’s going to seat only four. Do you have a fire pit? Get some rockers that are going to be comfortable.
Be sure to take the dimensions of your backyard, and then go into the store with your tape measure and make sure that (the furniture) is going to fit. Don’t guesstimate.
Q: What special requests have you gotten from the hotels and dayclubs?
A: We just did The Linq and Chateau. At The Linq, we did a metal-frame daybed with attached umbrella, and it also had a safe and storage so you could bring your beach bag, go to the pool and not worry about your cellphone or keys. The Palms wanted a daybed with a headboard that lifted up.
The clubs always want something different. They’re coming up with the hottest trends and colors, but they have to think about durability, too. When we build a daybed for a pool lounge, sometimes there (are) 11 people standing on them. So we build them very solid.
Q: Is there a Las Vegas look in patio furniture?
A: Vegas always has that sex appeal. We invented the pool lounge. We just sent a semitruck out to a country club in Massachusetts last week with swivel chairs and daybeds and sectionals. They wanted it to look like the Las Vegas scene.