With Market behind us and the holidays coming fast, I’ve been thinking about what this time of year looks like for many of you. You’re finishing dining rooms before Thanksgiving, getting guest rooms ready, and making sure the table is set before the family arrives. You make the gathering possible, and a lot of what happens before that happens out of sight. That brings me back to a moment that changed how we think at Sarreid.
The Moment That Changed Our Thinking
A few years ago, Mickey Sharp and I attended an interior design industry event. During a presentation to nearly 500 people, one of the industry’s leading designers asked a simple question:
“How many of you have been in the interior design business for fewer than five years?”
A surprising number of hands went up. Then she explained the business in a way I’ve never forgotten. The first 5% of a designer’s work is understanding the client: how they live, what they hope for, what worries them. The final 5% to 10% is delivering the finished room. It’s the moment the client walks in and sees everything come together.
Everything in between is logistics.
Then she said:
“If my vendors aren’t helping me manage logistics, I find different vendors.”
I elbowed Mickey and said, “We’re getting in the freight business.”
Of course, I didn’t mean we were buying trucks. I meant we needed to rethink what it means to be a real partner to the design trade.
Beautiful furniture would always matter. But we saw a bigger opportunity in helping designers with everything between the idea and the finished room. So we set a clear goal: make Sarreid the easiest, most dependable and most rewarding furniture partner a designer can work with. We’re not just here to sell furniture. We’re here to help designers run better businesses.
Turning Commitment Into Action
A good philosophy doesn’t mean much unless you act on it. Here’s what we’ve done to make your work easier:
- Prepaid Freight. Fewer shipping surprises and more predictable orders.
- Freight Coordination. We help with shipping and delivery so you aren’t handling every problem alone.
- Swatches and Finish Panels. You and your client can see and touch a finish before you commit to it.
- Heirloom Care. Our new furniture protection plan, powered by TruCare and offered at checkout on sarreid.com, keeps your client’s piece protected long after delivery day.
Each of these solves a different problem, but they all have the same goal: fewer headaches, so you can spend more time on design.
What’s Next: Making It Even Easier
We’ve made progress, but we’re not finished.
We’re improving the AI-assisted customer service on our website, especially after hours. Designers don’t work nine to five, and you shouldn’t have to wait until morning for a product answer. It’s there to back up our team, not replace them. When you need a real person, you’ll still get one.
We’re also adding more room scenes, so it’s easier to picture Sarreid pieces in a finished space, along with better schematics and specs to make planning and installation simpler.
The goal is simple: make it easier to go from finding a piece to seeing it installed.
The Curator Circle: Listening to the People Who Know Best
One of our most important new initiatives is the Sarreid Curator Circle, an advisory group of experienced interior designers. They know the daily realities of running a design business: what works, where the frustrations are, and how suppliers can do better.
We’ve asked them to help shape our future, from products, materials and finishes to customer service, logistics, and our website. Some of our best ideas will come from the people who use our products every day. Their input will help make sure we’re building what designers actually need, not what we assume they need.
More Than Beautiful Furniture
Sarreid has long been known for distinctive furniture, interesting materials and thoughtful design. That will always be at the heart of who we are. But beautiful products are only the beginning. They have to be backed by dependable inventory, responsive service, accurate information and smooth logistics.
That’s why we’re investing more in our best sellers, improving inventory availability, refining product development and strengthening our digital tools. It all works toward the same goal: being a resource the design community can count on.
Around the Table
I still think about that conference and the simple observation that started it all. Designers create the vision. Our job is to make it easier, more dependable and more profitable to bring that vision to life.
This season, that vision often ends at a table full of people. Extra leaves get pulled out, more chairs are found, and somebody’s grandmother gets the best seat. That’s the reason any of this matters.
Thank you for a great Market and for letting us be part of your work this year. I hope that when your last room is installed, you get to pull up a chair yourself.
From all of us at Sarreid, happy holidays.
Brad Cates
President & CEO
Sarreid
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