Northland is a hospitality furniture company with manufacturing facilities located in the United States, so it is only natural that the company would attend the industry’s premier trade show—Hospitality Design Expo. Referred to as the HD Expo by trade professionals, the event will be at the Mandalay Bay on May 3rd – 5th in Las Vegas, Nevada. We sat down with Michelle Fish at Northland to learn more about the company’s 40-year history in the Pacific Northwest and what they have planned for this year’s show.
Q. Who attends the HD Expo in Las Vegas?
A. Exhibitors include manufacturers of furniture, casegoods, artwork, fabric, carpet, and lighting. Really, anything you need to remodel a hotel is at HD Expo—it’s the place to learn about design trends and new technologies. HD Expo is the biggest trade show that we attend every year. It gives Northland the opportunity to connect with our customers and brings us new customers and new opportunities as well. It’s where hospitality designers, architects, and manufacturers come together for networking and inspiration.
Q. What is Northland most excited about for this year’s HD Expo?
A. We are excited to be launching our new Northland brand and logo at this year’s show. We’ve also designed and built custom furniture pieces for our booth at this year’s HD Expo. One of the larger pieces is a new, innovative design that will house two flat screen TVs with video playing throughout the day. It also shows our design capabilities including how our hospitality furniture designs seamlessly combine electronics into our casegoods. Like other furniture manufacturers, we first assemble our booth at our manufacturing facility in Bend, Oregon, before shipping it to Las Vegas. By doing this, we can ensure displays will be set up exactly the way we envision at the show.
Q. What sets Northland apart from the competition?
A. Mainly, that Northland is a USA furniture manufacturer that can offer quicker turnaround times than many other manufacturers including those with operations overseas. Our 10-year warranty also sets us apart as does our just-in-time manufacturing facility with a focus on quality and design. This allows us to be nimble and gives us the ability to partner with designers to create custom contract furniture designs for guestrooms and residence rooms. Because we are able to manufacture to custom specifications, our customers can pick out different pieces of furniture from any or all three of our different casegoods lines.
Our catalogs allow hotel designers, purchasers, and owners, to get ideas as well as to have a starting point for customizable furniture designs. They can also order directly from our catalogs. It is not uncommon for an hotelier or designer to make changes to the colors, sizes, and finishes of our casegoods and to be very happy with the final product. Northland’s turnaround times are quicker this time of year, however soon they will stretch out a bit because hospitality properties want to get their renovations complete before summer. In general, we strive for 6 to 8 weeks based on the receipt of all sign-off and approvals.
Q. Can you tell us a little bit about Northland? How long has the company been in business?
A. Northland began manufacturing commercial furniture for the hospitality industry in 1976, and we recently celebrated our 40th anniversary. When we started in the business, our manufacturing facility was located in the Old Mill District in Bend, Oregon. During that time the Old Mill District was home to two of the largest pine sawmills in the world. We sourced much of the wood material for our furniture from the historically significant Brooks-Scanlon Mill before it closed in 1983.
Q. How has Northland evolved over the past 40 years?
A. From the beginning, our mission, which still stands today, is to construct high-quality casegoods and hospitality furniture for hotels and resorts. Northland’s reputation for service and quality grew, and so did our market. Besides serving the hospitality industry, we began designing and manufacturing furniture for senior living facilities, university and college dorm rooms and expanded our reach with resorts, and hotels.
The Hospitality Design Expo will be held May 3 – 5 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The hospitality industry includes hotels/resorts, casinos, cruise ships, restaurants, senior and assisted living facilities. Over 850 exhibitors and 10,000 attendees are expected to attend HD Expo this year. From continuing education credits to the latest trends and technologies HD Expo gives exhibitors and attendees the opportunity to network and gain insight.
