Zuo Modern’s High Point showroom is targeted at a hip crowd. (Spencer Musick/ Furniture Today)
HIGH POINT — Zuo Modern‘s High Point showroom is nothing if not eye-catching and unique. With neon aphorisms on the walls and products seemingly tailor-made for commercial applications such as hospitality and student housing, it’s clear the brand is targeting customers with a few music festivals under their belt.
As it turns out, one of Zuo’s popular outdoor products at this week’s High Point Market has already attended a few itself: the Luanda modular sofa, which CEO Luis Ruesga tells Furniture Today is built to be stood on, jumped on and danced on.
“We designed this especially for Coachella,” he said. “It is made to dance on top of. If you are wearing heels, it will not punch in. You can throw up on it — anything. We have seen it placed in 10 music festivals, including Burning Man. It’s just the right price point and durability for those kinds of applications.”
Durability is clearly the name of the game for Zuo’s outdoor product range, which Ruesga said comprises a huge part of the California-based company’s overall sales.
“About 30% to 40% of our business depends on outdoor,” he explained. “We try to design shapes and use fabrics that can easily carry from indoor to outdoor. Everything we do is a 100% aluminum frame; all the synthetic materials and fabrics are acrylic solution-dyed. We attach all the cushions so they don’t fly away with the wind.”
Ruesga added that these contract-focused features also have found real traction with some buyers in the residential space, who are attracted to the durability and versatility commercial-grade products offer.
“The designers love that we have no order minimum, and even with the tariffs, we are guaranteeing prices,” he said. “We did have to institute a 5% surcharge, but all prices quoted at Market are locked in for the buyer, so we have been seeing good traction.”
Zuo Modern‘s High Point showroom is located in the International Home Furnishings Center, space H-543.