Leda Furniture of Toronto is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year as a manufacturer of wood residential and hotel furniture.

With so many furniture manufacturers moving their operations overseas, President Marco Confalone of Leda Furniture says his company's continuing strong roots in Canada provide a refreshing option for potential clients. "Canada still has a good reputation for fine manufacturers of goods," Confalone says. "When we tell people we are made in Canada, they like that. It is fresh to the U.S. since it is not made overseas."

Leda Furniture of Toronto is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year as a manufacturer of wood residential and hotel furniture. The company is also launching its own line of office contract furniture.

The company was founded by Lino and Leda Confalone, Marco's parents, in 1967 to build and install kitchen cabinets.

Today, the company operates from a 175,000-square-foot facility that houses state-of-the-art manufacturing, warehousing and showroom space.

In 2006, Leda Furniture began an 18,000-square-foot expansion project. The company is still family owned and operated, with Lino still involved as an executive and Sergio Confalone, Marco's brother, serving as vice president.

Offshore Influence
Although Leda Furniture does feel some pressure from inexpensive furniture imports, Confalone says the company is always trying to separate itself through fresh designs. "Companies are running overseas and running for the wrong reasons," he says. "They are running for the price without thinking of how to take advantage of imports to help their product offerings.

"We do import one collection only because the finishing process required for this design cannot be done in North America," Confalone adds. "We took advantage of this opportunity in order to have a new design that adds to our product offering as opposed to competing with ourselves or taking away from our domestic production."

To show how Leda Furniture rises above the import market, the company launched its "Leda Advantage" campaign in 2005. Through pamphlets distributed to its retailer base, Leda Furniture explains its commitment to help achieve consumer satisfaction.

Two Efficient Lines
Keeping its operations in North America is intertwined with the Leda Advantage campaign. By remaining domestic, Leda Furniture says it can ship its products faster.

And with its 18,000-square-foot expansion and soon-to-be added finishing line, the company will be set to run its residential and office contract lines simultaneously.

"[With the lines], we will be able to improve the speed and efficiency for residential and contract furniture without one slowing down the other," Confalone says.

Trading with the U.S.
Leda Furniture has not encountered many problems with trade with the United States beyond basic customs issues, but Confalone believes the nations should work toward making trade easier between the two.

"The governments should make it a little easier for Canada and the U.S. to trade with each other, particularly in terms of tariff and paperwork bureaucracy," he says. "It is pretty much the same culture, and the easier we can make it for our two countries to thrive together, the better it will be for all industries and companies in these two countries."

Confalone also believes one of the reasons North American manufacturers are struggling is because of their shortcomings in upgrading equipment, not just because of offshore pressures. He says Leda Furniture has stayed on top of the latest technology available to make sure it is not left behind.