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Not Your Grandpa’s Aluminum
Man-made materials continue to make strides to compete in durability and overall look with natural resources. Like POLYWOOD’s recycled high-density polyethelene plastic, the latest aluminum and marine-grade polymers (MGP) are nearly indestructible. Telescope Casual is known for its aluminum furniture and uses MGP in several of its latest collections.
Telescope’s Lew Tucker warns of significant variances in the quality of aluminum used in outdoor furniture. The more you can tell the customer or client about the line you’re selling, the better. “Consumers assume
all aluminum furniture frames are hollow,” says Tucker. “But Telescope has additional barriers inside that add extra durability.”
Ratana also uses aluminum frames in many of its furniture lines. “The best part about aluminum is how versatile and low maintenance it is,” says Ratana’s vice president of business development, Joanna Leung. “It’s very easy to clean relative to other materials. All you really need to do is hose it down.”
Leung agrees that the more detail a customer or client hears about the materials, the better the odds of getting the sale. She says designers and retailers should also tout finishes. Ratana offers high-quality powder coated aluminum and aluminum that is hand-brushed, a labor intensive texturing process that makes it look like wood.
Learning about these and other details can take time. But manufacturers agree that once clients and customers learn that a set of outdoor furniture is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside, they’re ready to buy. ■
For more information:
POLYWOOD at polywoodoutdoor.com; Telescope at telescopecasual.com; Jensen at jensenleisurefurniture.com; Three Birds Casual at three-birds.com; and Ratana at Ratana.com.
Images courtesy of Telescope Casual, POLYWOOD, Jensen Leisure Furniture and Ratana.
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