Our “Sneak Peek” series continues today with Terra Furniture, a company whose founders have been in the business for over 40 years and focus on providing high-quality casual furniture and accessories. At Casual Market this year, Terra Furniture will be showing off two such products of high quality- the Regent Dining Collection and the Anastasia Outdoor Deep Seating Collection.

We are particularly fond of the Regent Dining Collection, Terra Furniture’s newest dining set that can transition from outdoor to indoor. The dining chair pictured is made of tubular and cast aluminum, and is available in 20 different finishes. For those of you who are hoteliers, restaurateurs, spa owners, and designers working in commercial spaces, Terra Furniture offers a creative choice for the back of the chair. It can be customized to include a company logo or initials, another reason to love the Regent Dining Collection!

Just looking at the Anastasia Outdoor Deep Seating Collection and we’re convinced the club chair, loveseat and ottoman will be favorites for any homeowner looking to create a relaxing setting on a verandah, patio, or in most any outdoor room. Terra Furniture covers each comfortable piece’s cushions in durable, all-weather Sunbrella fabrics, leaving the choice of 200 possible fabrics to the customer. Our take on the best part about this collection: the pieces can be left outdoors year round, without worry of fading.

If you are attending Casual Market, stop by Terra Furniture’s booth, 8-2050. And, for more information, visit www.terrafurniture.com.

~ Sarah Kate

NorthCape International specializes in furniture that ranges from traditional to contemporary. Every piece created with high-quality manufacturing, its pieces are meant to stand the test of weather and wear. At the same time, in selecting the company for inclusion to our “Sneak Peek” series, our team agreed NorthCape’s furniture can make a true design statement in any setting. And, two of NorthCape’s collections we’re excited to see at Casual Market are the Berkshire Collection and the Cabo Collection.

One of the most versatile elements of NorthCape’s Berkshire Collection is the choice to accessorize the pieces with sunny shades of fabric and bold patterns or neutral-toned fabrics and earthy trimmings. After conducting much casual furniture trend research last year on the part of our team, the Berkshire Collection options act as an indicator the trend of bold-to-traditional colors and styles is still present.

The collection is defined by its thick, hand-woven
weave in a rich cappuccino color. The rustic feel of the weave combined with the rich brown hue really allows Berkshire pieces to be beautiful and functional. Matched with other pieces from the collection or mixed with other coordinating accessories, NorthCape’s Berkshire Collection can yield a timeless look for any backyard, patio, porch or terrace.

The Cabo Collection exudes a more luxurious resort feeling as a collection but at an affordable price. This modular collection’s pieces are crafted with a lightweight aluminum frame and covered with a Jacobean flat weave. The fabric for the cushions is completely durable due to its UV-protected PE woven resin, and NorthCape has a fabric library of over 150 textures and colors to use for the cushions.

If you’ll be attending Casual Market, stop by booths 16-112 and 16-130 for NorthCape International’s selection of furniture, lamps, rugs and accessories.

~ ECPR team

With so many diverse companies exhibiting at Casual Market, we continue our “Sneak Peek” series with hopes that everyone attending the show, or not, will enjoy reading about select new products and interesting trends surrounding this year’s Casual Market. A leading designer in casual furniture products, California Outdoor Concepts will be showing one-of-a-kind fire pits at booth 8-2012. The fire pit category at markets and trade shows is a growing trend, as more of a focus is put on backyards being functional living spaces.

We gathered some feedback about this from Clint Blevins, president of California Outdoor Concepts. He shared with us that when he and his team started the company almost 10 years ago, they felt they were providing a product that gave additional heat for backyard activities. But, they know today the fire pit is really a gathering place; a place to share conversations and maintain relationships. The modern and sophisticated appearance of their fire pits is a tell-tale sign they know all about creating warm atmospheres for homeowners and business owners in need of fire elements. We, here at ECPR, want to share two particular fire pits from California Outdoor Concepts – the Monterey and the Del Rio – that really captured our attention.

The Monterey is a multifunctional fire pit table reminiscent of California style and feel. With dark mahogany footing and basket weave base, the Monterey combines aesthetic beauty with practical needs of an outdoor table. An individual could easily rest his/her feet up on the top for extra warmth and comfort or set a plate and glass on the edge for a fireside dinner with guests.

The Del Rio from the La Costa series is fashioned from its Spanish name meaning “to or from the river”. A coffee table in shape in size, this fire pit is made of sleek, modern details, like the granite top sourced from actual mountains. Media members, if you have editorial needs for what’s hot in outdoor fire pits for your fall and winter issues / editions, please comment here, or you are welcome to email or tweet us.

~ Jeff

Here, we have posted another “Sneak Peek” from a shade design company, TUUCI. This innovative shade product company will be participating in the fall 2010 Casual Market beginning September 21. And, with shade options continuing to evolve in outdoor room importance, TUUCI is clearly staying on top of market and design trends.

TUUCI’s newest introduction is its Ocean Master MAX Cantilever Classic Parasol from the Ocean Master MAX Cantilever Collection, designed and inspired from marine elements. The automatic telescope mast supports the shade parasol that provides 200 square feet of uninterrupted shade and ambiance. TUUCI blends style and function together with the MAX Cantilever Classic as it combines beautiful aesthetics with solid engineering features, like the tandem-retrieving crank system, for the ultimate shade experience. We really admire the product because it is a timeless piece that eludes sophistication and contemporary comfort. We believe the nautical look and easy to operate features makes it an ideal shade choice.

TUUCI is a leader in shade products furnishing cafés, hotels and resorts while also focusing on environmental sustainability. See more of TUUCI’s products at booth 8-7038 at Casual Market or visit www.tuuci.com for more information.

~ Don

The quaint yet thriving French city Marseille, located on the sun-drenched shores of the Mediterranean coast, is the essence of European spirit and style. This same refined, bucolic spirit is captured in the Marseille Collection created by Century Leisure Furniture. Century Leisure will be showing this collection and more at Casual Market, beginning September 21, at booth 1700.

The look of the Marseille Collection is clean and linear with subtle details that enhance its sophistication, according to Eric Graham, the senior director for Century Leisure. And, the collection includes dining and lounge chairs, bar stools, loveseats, chaises and tables all in hand-wrought steel with a pewter finish. Each of the seating pieces features Century’s distinct bull nose cushion details, and, the tables are topped with brushed White Carrara marble.

We hope everyone is enjoying these amazing “Sneak Peeks” before Casual Market begins just around the corner. Designers, retailers, manufacturers, and media members, keep reading our blog for more product spotlights and new trends in casual and outdoor living! There are many more Sneak Peeks to follow soon.

~ Sarah Kate

The International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market, a.k.a, Casual Market is less than two weeks away, and we are in full swing for everything that is furniture, trends and accessories related to casual and outdoor living. The Naples Club Chair from stylish and innovative Foremost Groups is part of a new collection that channels a West Indies feeling. Meticulously crafted of cast aluminum, then finished with hand-applied highlights to give depth to the color and look of the metal, the Naples Club Chair is sure to be a stand out at Foremost’s booth at Casual Market, number 8-4117.

Besides the beautifully detailed finish of the chair, we love the spacious, deep seating of this club chair. Extra thick, large cushions covered in high-quality Sunbrella fabric offer extra comfort in a clean, chic way. Its modern day durability makes it family and children friendly; it’s overall sense of style makes it worthy to be included in our “Sneak Peeks”. – Editors, this chair would enlighten your readers on some of the most incredible form-and-function outdoor seating for 2011.

~ Jeff

We are excited to begin our “Sneak Peek” series for The International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market (IFCA) with a new exhibitor to Casual Market, Philips Consumer Luminaires. Look for the LivingColors lighting product as the spotlight of the company’s exhibit booth. Just introduced in the U.S. during August, LivingColors is a cleverly-designed blend of a luminaire and light source offering up to 16 million color combinations to transform a room’s or space’s ambiance.

This revolutionary lighting product combines the latest in LED technology with the concept of colored lighting “painting” a room for different atmospheres. Whether it’s a warm yellow for a lazy Sunday spent reading or a vibrant purple to enhance the entertainment feel of a dinner party, individuals can save up to three favorite settings for easy use in the future. There is also a dimmable white light and an automatic color-changing setting as additional features. We can easily see LivingColors becoming popular with home owners, business owners and especially designers in the hospitality business. And the easiness of use with LivingColors plugging into any outlet and being controlled by a touch-sensitive remote control is yet another standout reason why we had to include this product in our “Sneak Peek” series.

If you’ll be at Casual Market, stop by Philips Consumer Luminaires’ booth 8-3009 to see LivingColors. Or, for now, find more information about LivingColors at: http://www.lighting.philips.com/microsite/living_colors/

And, stay tuned to our blog for our upcoming “Sneak Peek” posts!

~ Sarah Kate

September for us, here at Eberly & Collard Public Relations, signifies one very important market week- The International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market (ICFA) in Chicago, IL. Held from September 21-24, Casual Market offers the most complete range of collections in new furniture, accessories and trends for outdoor living. It makes sense then, why Casual Market is the only show endorsed by the International Casual Furnishings Association.

Our ECPR team is working closely with MMPI, the show’s well-equipped production company, to cover select products and innovative trends, as introduced or launched by some of the showroom owners and exhibitors who will participate. We will be writing pre-show “Sneak Peeks” and publishing them on our blog for attendees and members of the media. Many of our media contacts have requested this resource, as is our norm, so we are looking forward to reporting helpful information about our clients and many others in the industry. We hope everyone enjoys the posts!

Keep checking our blog for an ongoing series of product “Sneak Peeks” and for information released from MMPI about the market event leading up to September 21. Also, follow us on Twitter during the market, as we’ll be tweeting about products and trends from the Casual Market. Here are our social media channels:

· Blog: http://www.eberlycollardpr.blogspot.com/
· Facebook Fanpage: http://tinyurl.com/ECPR-Facebook
· Twitter: http://twitter.com/eberlycollardpr
· Flickr photo pages: http://tinyurl.com/ECPR-Flickr

So, think of our social media channels as a means to learn about 2010’s advanced and new products for the home and outdoor furniture and accessories industries. Members of the media whom may not yet have tapped into this resource, contact us if you would like to receive special articles, product profiles, photos, etc. directly.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Chicago!

~ ECPR team

Posting about all these options for soil amendments shown at IGC 2010 lately has caused me to really wonder about what happens underground – below the soil. When a fertilizer claims to “bring your soil to life”, what does that actually mean? I thought about this when writing this week’s post about Circle Organics. It’s truly amazing the complex development behind each of the company’s products and other companies from “Best of Products” we’ve previously featured. I see these products as part of this intrinsic system where amendments / fertilizers build up the soil, the soil builds up the plants, the plants build up our eco-system; it’s neat to think of these microbes and nutrients as a catalyst in this chain of feeding and sustaining the Earth. So, with that in mind, let’s move on to the actual “Best of Products”, featuring Pure Castings and Eco Boost from Circle Organics. These two products are %100 organic, meaning they are safe for families, pets and the environment and %100 beneficial to the soil in any lawn or garden.

Made from worm castings, Pure Castings is essentially the first step to healthy topsoil. Pure Castings is a developed blend of minerals, nutrients and living microscopic organisms. The castings are a result of a scientifically-developed diet of components known to promote naturally healthy soils and plants. For landscapers and consumers, the fact that the castings are odorless makes them pleasant to use in residential and commercial settings. For retailers, the castings provide a totally organic alternative to entice today’s green-savvy customers. The end result is fertilized topsoil that boosts healthy plant growth for any lawn or garden.

Similar to Pure Castings in its derived formula, Eco Boost is a liquid soil amendment that seeps further than the soil and into a plant’s roots. This highly concentrated product includes 13 varieties of Endo/Ecto Mycorrhizae- a complex and diverse blend of living beneficial microbes comprised of more than 40 varieties, totaling 13.89 million plus CFUs per fluid ounce. Also, notably, this includes several different types of Archaea. It also includes liquid humates, proteins, amino acids and even, yucca and North American sea kelp. In action, these powerful ingredients increase a plant’s health and therefore its ability to resist drought, disease and pests.

Clearly, these products are deserving of “Best-of Products” status. – Media members, let us know your questions, comments and needs for source insights, photos or articles.

~ Sarah Kate

Creative, new container ideas are always a welcome idea for folks in the garden industry. And, we all know how beneficial these creative ideas are to spark consumer interest and sales. At IGC, we were particularly smitten with Clesen Wholesale’s incredible selection of products for making beautiful containers year-round. Clesen Wholesale offers a range of seasonal plants, flowers and decorations to garden centers and professional landscapers. They company also custom grows a variety of other plants to truly offer a gamut of choices. What makes Clesen’s options stand out is not only the fact they are seasonally appropriate, but also they are an eclectic mix of plants (like vegetables), flowers and synthetic decorations.

Pictured below is a fall container from Clesen. Perfect for decorating homes, businesses, hotels, etc., Clesen’s fall selections include magnolia, oak leaves, artichoke, sorghum, yarrow, and more, all embodying fall’s classic color scheme and earthy vibe.

For those garden centers and landscapers planning ahead for winter, Clesen also has beautiful products that work in extreme weather conditions. Branches, evergreens, wreaths, garlands, and the newest introduction, snow berries make for wonderful wintry wall or door hangings, containers or beds. The snow berries are all-natural, white berries and made from a plant similar to sugarcane, yet they are tolerant of cold temperatures and wet weather. Handmade and hand dipped into red, gold or silver paints and finished with a shimmer, the berries are one of Clesen’s items that will spruce up any outdoor arrangement for those colder days that are around the corner.

For more information about Clesen Wholesale and pictures of products, and for retailers wanting to make orders, visit: http://www.clesen.com.

~ Don and Jeff