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Industry Profile
All-around Provider
Quality products, flexible shipping and competitive pricing have
Lassen Window Fashions on its way to the top.
D&WC: Please give a
detailed description of your company and its history.
Richard Lee, president: Lassen Window Fashions, Inc.
was established in Anaheim, CA, in 1999. As a U.S. distribution
center for window coverings material, Lassen Window Fashions is
fully supported by its world’s largest wood blind manufacturing
facility in China. Our Asia facility was founded in 1978, and it
has experience handling quality wood products for more than 25 years.
As a professional wood blind manufacturer, we process raw wood into
lumber and lumber into slats and finished blind sets. We have our
own painting lines—both NC lines and UV lines. Our facility
is able to supply all types of window coverings from components
all the way to the finished product. Currently, we have components,
ready-made blinds, a cut-down program and special order available.
With the world’s largest wood blind facility, we have our own
injection machinery to make parts for the blinds, extrusion machinery
for foam wood slats, and a metal forming line to create the headrail
and all the metal components.
With our own facility, we can monitor each production procedure
step by step and assure a better control over quality with a higher
flexibility in shipping arrangements. We can provide the customer
with a choice of full container load shipment, combined container
shipment or purchase locally direct from our distribution center
in Anaheim. We also have a large R & D department to work on
new products for the market and have obtained many patents for our
distinguished products.
Lassen Window Fashions is an environmentally conscious company.
We are ISO9002 certified and offer FSC certified material among
our selections. We have learned the best way to utilize every piece
of material to make sure we achieve optimum usage of the lumber.
With our 5.4 million-square-foot facility and 1,800 employees, we
surely can satisfy our customers in every respect and provide for
all their needs with a variety of product selections.
In order to strengthen our customer support systems, Lassen Window
Fashions moved to a new location, which features a 50,000-plus square
foot facility (see D&WC, September 2002, page 14). With our
expanded facility and well-trained personnel, we will provide even
higher quality products and stronger customer service.
D&WC: What window coverings
products did you handle initially? What products do you handle today?
Lee: Lassen Window Fashions
handles various types of product. We started as a basswood, tender
wood and faux wood blind manufacturer and slowly emerged into the
field of components and parts. Today, we carry most varieties of
window covering products in our line. With our outstanding production
capability, Lassen is basically an all-around company that can produce
any window decoration product.
Besides wood blinds, we also have the ability to manufacture wood
shutters, wood poles, finials, aluminum blinds, PVC vinyl, woven
woods, woven paper and woven bamboo shades. We also carry a new
soft fabric material named Ventex in our warehouse.
Most importantly, thanks to our R & D capability, Lassen Window
Fashions developed and presented a new product called Dresswood,
which has quickly become one of our most popular items on the market.
D&WC: What one product or line stands out above
the rest?
Lee: The No. 1 selling
product for Lassen is our basswood components. After all, we have
specialized in and are known for our highly skilled workers and
state-of-the-art facility, plus our years of experience in handling
wood.
Faux wood follows as our No. 2 product in sales due to its stable
quality and cost-cutting price. Dresswood is our newest product,
which is drawing attention in the market. With its warp-free nature
and color consistency, Dresswood is growing sharply in sales and
soon will become our new star.
D&WC: Is your business computerized? Do you have
a company Web site, and how is it used to communicate with customers?
Lee: Yes, we have spent a lot
of our effort in computerization. Lassen Window Fashions has a fully
customized business software program to provide the most effective
and rapid service for our customers.
The company has its own Web site, which is currently under construction
to add more updated information and functions. We plan for our new
site to include Lassen Window Fashions background and an introduction
to the company, an online ordering system, shipment tracking status
and an online help function for customers. Our e-mail address is:
sales@lassenwf.com.
D&WC: Who are your customers? What
parts of the country do you service?
Lee: Our customers are small,
medium and large fabricators throughout the United States, Canada,
Mexico and South America.
D&WC: How many salespeople do you employ?
Lee: We have a total of five
salespeople. We have one sales person working in our branch office
in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to serve the Canadian market.
Three sales personnel are handling different regional customers
throughout the United States, Mexico and South America.
Wally Brown has recently joined Lassen as our sales manager (see
D&WC, October 2002, page 20). Brown will bring the Lassen team
to the next level by tightening our focus on building quality products
and strengthening our customer support system with his progressive
window fashions industry experience.
D&WC: How has your segment
of the industry changed since you first began?
Lee: When we first launched
in the U.S. market we offered quality basswood and faux wood products.
Soon after, we diversified our product line to better service and
strengthen our account base.
In order to serve our customers, we relocated our distribution center
to increase our inventory supplies for better delivery and service.
We also have a new product development team working full-time to
create new products through advanced technology and, thus, provide
more selections and choices to meet the needs of our customers.
D&WC: Where do you see yourself and your company
five years from now? Are there additional areas within the industry
that you would like to get involved in?
Lee: We will be the largest
window coverings provider to the United States and will soon open
an East Coast distribution center to service that portion of the
country.
We also have been developing several new products, some of which
we will introduce in April at the International Window Coverings
Expo in Baltimore.
D&WC: What are some of
the key factors involved in your growth and success?
Lee: Our key factors are large
inventory for prompt delivery, variety of products, quality products,
strong customer service support, and competitive pricing.
Lassen Window Fashions has a large inventory for quick delivery,
which allows our customers to carry minimum inventory to reduce
their costs. With our own facility, Lassen Window Fashions is able
to post stricter quality control over our products and offer flexibility
in shipping and a selection of various wood species.
We always offer our customers quality products at reasonable prices.
We do believe we are competitive in the industry.
D&WC: What advice would
you give to other window coverings professionals?
Lee: Build strong partnerships
with your customers and supply quality products in a timely manner.
Customer service also plays a key role in business. Listen to your
customers and always provide the best products that fit the customers’
needs.
Lassen Window Fashions, Inc.
1300 N. Jefferson St.
Anaheim, CA, 92807
(714) 996-6399
(888) 679-8688.
Fax: (714) 996-6379
E-mail: sales@lassenwf.com.
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