Old Hickory Furniture returns to outdoor market

Lawn & Garden Collection debuted at the High Point Market

-- Casual Living, 10/18/2007 11:25:00 AM

After 108 years of handcrafting upscale hickory-sapling furniture, Old Hickory Furniture Company returned to its outdoor furniture roots by introducing its Lawn & Garden Collection at the High Point Market.
      
Customer requests and recent trends in outdoor living prompted the Shelbyville, Ind.-based manufacturer, best-known for its rustic indoor furnishings, to re-introduce Old Hickory outdoor furniture. For the past two years, Old Hickory has been testing various finishes, fabrics and woven materials to make sure they would be weather-resistant and last as long as the hickory sapling frames.
      
“Old Hickory’s foundation originally was all outdoors,” said Rocco Liott, president of Old Hickory Furniture Company. “The reason we’ve gotten back into this is because we’ve gotten so many requests. With the creation of outdoor living rooms and outdoor kitchens, the demand for quality and unique outdoor furniture is exceptionally high. The industry itself is going green and that’s where we have been the whole time since 1899.”
      
The Old Hickory Lawn & Garden Collection features more than 20 new items from occasional to dining that combine archival designs along with contemporary style to fit today’s outdoor living spaces.
       
“Comfort and durability are the cornerstones of the collection,” Liott said. “Old Hickory furniture has been used outside for generations; now we have longer lasting finishes, stronger glues, more resilient fabrics and woven materials that make the furniture better and even more durable.” 
      
Old Hickory Furniture’s customers include retailers and well-known hotels, lodges, resorts and restaurants such as Old Faithful Inn, Rain Forest Cafes and Disney World’s Fort Wilderness Lodge.