Starting out in 1895, Niels Eilersen began business as a coachbuilder. After the company burned down in 1934, he rebuilt it into an entirely different production process: Furniture. The sofas quickly became incredibly popular and Eilersen has been booming ever since. Today, the name itself is synonymous with quality and Eilersen has a fantastic, world-wide reputation for its sofas. Every piece of furniture is based on genuine craftsmanship and fashion-conscious design. Come in and check it out this month!

I thought it was time to give a quick review of hip's plans for Natuzzi leather and upholstery for 2011/12. To fully appreciate our direction, I should mention we are still holding true on to our long term values here at hip and sticking to our plan to only sell Natuzzi upholstery that is actually made in Italy. This has really proved to be the right choice for us. We're now in our 16th year selling Natuzzi. hip started by offering Natuzzi in just 7-10 unique frame styles in over 200 covers. This grew to 30 + frames in nearly 300 choices of leather and fabric (lesson 1, too many). We started hip by importing containers directly from Natuzzi, which arrived regularly into hip's warehouse, our floor displays were used to show the breadth of the Natuzzi brand and a large portion of our business was derived from special orders. We have learned through this process of trial and error what it takes to successfully sell modern Italian design in Portland. Although we thought that we would certainly have the perfect combinations available for our customers, we found out otherwise (lesson 2). When purchasing a major piece of furniture, we found that our customers often wanted to ultimately choose the exact configuration and the exact material, regardless of the time needed to special order a piece of furniture from Italy (approximately 4-6 months) rather than "making do" with what we had available for immediate gratification (the second part of lesson 2).
We invite you to come into hip so we can personally explain the Natuzzi Italian difference, and also show you some models that are available quickly.

The Natuzzi brand is sold throughout the US as Natuzzi Editions, Ital Sofa and Natuzzi Italy. At hip we only display the Natuzzi Italy brand, the only Natuzzi brand product made in Italy. Come visit us and we believe it will quickly become apparent, the differences in design details, stitching, material choices and overall modern esthetic provided via the Natuzzi italian Brand.

I hope you'll pardon this over use of the brand references and the differences, but I feel it's important. By this summer, hip will have grown to display the largest collection of "Italian" Natuzzi leather and upholstery in the city, adding to the fact that "there really is no place like hip". Stay tuned for further updates coming on our new Natuzzi showroom additions and a great remodel coming this summer and thanks again for checking out hip. Dave Haleston.

Meet Conrad: Warehouse Assistant and the most recent addition to the HIPpest team in town. His interests include: Travelling, playing with his new puppy (a chocolate lab named Stella with a face to melt your heart) and being a transplant from Virginia. Next time you request delivery, be prepared for this young man to show up. We adore him for being our baby (at 20 perhaps “baby” is the wrong term, but we can’t help ourselves) and for bringing us his bright and upbeat attitude. Don’t be intimidated by his masculine, flowing, golden locks; we assure you this one is a sweetheart.

Just shy of 21, Conrad can’t seem to think about much else…. The Zoe bar is chic, sophisticated, stunning and full service. Great for hosting a party at home or for setting the tone in your new bar and/or restaurant business. (http://www.ubhip.com/products/tables/zoe/)

The Kara lounger by NUEVO had Conrad at first seat. Fun, funky, and oh-so-comfortable; Kara doesn’t just hold you, she rocks! The cushioning and visual appeal may be what drew Conrad in, but the rocking feature is what made him stay. (http://www.ubhip.com/products/chairs/kara/)

Did Conrad find Portland, or did Portland find Conrad? Either way, Conrad is eco-consciously living in one of the most eco-friendly cities around. As such; he chose the Magnolia shelf not just for its functionality and visual appeal, but for the values behind its manufacturer. Greenington builds environmentally sustainable Bamboo products in their ISO 9001 Quality Management and ISO 14001 Environment Management Certified Factory. Conrad knows that this shelf is an investment to feel good about and he wants you to feel it too! (http://www.ubhip.com/products/storage/magnolia_shelf/).