Trend Report: Design Brands Cope with Covid-19

When it comes to the coronavirus’s effect on the United States, no industry has been spared. This includes the design industry, which, according to a recent special report from the AIA, is experiencing an unfathomable decline in revenue and business. New design projects were down an estimated 50% in March, and 57% of firms are expecting revenues falloff of at least 10%. This falloff is expected to accelerate in April.

This is incredibly disheartening news. Still, like previous recessions, this too shall pass—and when it does, it’s natural to wonder (or worry) if manufacturers will be ready to respond to the flood of orders that are likely to come in. We touched base with a dozen leading product manufacturers (including Cosentino, Crossville, Wilsonart, Formica, Vitra, Carl Hansen & Søn, and Shaw) to gauge the current temperature of the industry, gain insight into how they’re protecting their employees, and learn whether or not they’ll have product on-hand once the virus is under control.

Due to orders from federal and state governments, brands that manufacture for both the residential and commercial markets have been deemed essential and have been able to keep their facilities running. The challenge has been how to keep producing while keeping employees safe. Several companies we interviewed had already manufactured stock items prior to the pandemic and are still producing their goods, though in a limited capacity, as they’ve implemented the six-foot rule and stricter hygiene and safety practices. Several of these brands supply product for projects such as medical hubs to treat COVID-19 patients — projects that are too vital to postpone. "Construction is considered essential in most states, and we supply that industry," says Lindsey Waldrep, vice president of marketing at Crossville. "So, we’re still working. About 75% of employees are working from home, and our production lines have been modified to support the health and safety of our onsite team members according to OSHA and CDC guidelines."

Flooring brand Shaw, which runs 40 manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, took a similar approach "Where necessary, we made physical changes inside our facilities and in how our associates perform their job functions," explains company president Tim Baucom. In addition to stepping up disinfecting and providing face masks to all frontline employees, Shaw is staggering suspension of facilities depending on each plant region’s COVID-19 status and market demand.

While much of Europe is still paralyzed in a state of lockdown, particularly in hard-hit Italy, the situation is starting to improve incrementally . A recently as April 21, a coalition of Italian furnishing and fixture brands (including Poltrona Frau, Flexform, Cassina, B&B Italia, Boffi, Giorgetti, and Cappellini) have come together to coordinate a safe reopening of production facilities across the country. Flexform and Flos announced the reopening of their facilities on April 28, assuring designers that appropriate worker safety measures would be put in place, such as social distancing and increased access to hand sanitation stations.

On the designer side, European brands are doing what they can to avoid furloughs and layoffs. "We’ve made an agreement between the Danish Industry Federation, the unions, and the Danish government that enables a number of our employees to work from home and still remain employed," says Knud Erik Hansen, president of Danish furniture company Carl Hansen & Son. "The government compensates up to 70% of wages, and the remaining percentage is paid by us. That way, the employment terms can continue unchanged all through the pandemic."