Patio & Hearth Products Report recently spoke with Derek Ritzel, the new CEO at Castelle, in regards to his vision and direction for the company.

Patio & Hearth Products Report (P&HPR): Based on your considerable experience in the mattress, furniture, and specialty retail industry, what new and innovative ideas will brought to Castelle?
Derek Ritzel, CEO, Castelle: With today’s consumers trading up, premium products are outpacing all other segments within the marketplace. With this occurrence and seeing little or no growth in the total number of new consumers entering the marketplace, a focus will be placed on helping our retail partners to increase the spending per customer with product selections and marketing practices.

P&HPR: Will CASTELLE continue to offer a broad and diverse selection of traditional, contemporary and modern patio and outdoor furniture collections?
Ritzel: Castelle is known for our broad product offering and I do not see that changing. Considerable growth, however, is occurring with regard to our transitional and contemporary offerings and attention will be given to building upon those design styles as new collections and products are introduced.

P&HPR: Will you continue to grow and strengthen CASTELLE’s working relationship with specialty retailers/dealers? And if so, do you plan to introduce any new or improved specialty retailer/dealer support programs?
Ritzel: Specialty retailers will continue to be an important focus for CASTELLE. As far as new support programs, we are always exploring ideas and options whether product-wise or marketing-wise to create greater success at retail. Few things help a retailer more than exceptional product. We need to make sure we represent all the styles consumers want to buy and have exceptional offerings in those styles. By following consumer trends, we will be better positioned to help our specialty retailers reach a profitable position.

P&HPR: Are there any new or underserviced areas of either the retail, contract or consumer market that you plan to focus on?
Ritzel: The designer channel is an area that continues to develop and drive tickets. As consumers personalize their outdoor space, having the ability to provide customers with something uniquely their own is a focus.  For Castelle, we are addressing this with the addition of designer collaborations as well as the introduction of styles that are popular with design customers.  Our custom capabilities with a timely delivery also are a way in which all retailers can provide a designer experience. 

P&HPR: With more than 20 years’ experience in the furniture industry, what are some of the biggest changes you have seen at the specialty retailer/dealer level over the past five to ten years?
Ritzel: Specialty stores have a unique challenge: They need great real estate to service their customers, and that puts real pressure on the P&L. With ticket compression hitting hard, it is essential that they have high quality, high-ticket goods to fulfill their mission.  Specialty retailers are best positioned to take advantage of consumers that are waking up to the idea that their outdoor rooms need to be outfitted. CASTELLE has consistently worked to create products and services to meet these challenges and will continue to provide ways for our customers to expand average tickets.

P&HPR: What are a few of the greatest opportunities going forward for specialty retailers/dealers of patio, outdoor furniture and outdoor living products?
Ritzel: Opportunities for the specialty segment are much the same as in other categories and revolve around access to quality products, proven brands, and the post-sale follow through; all of which are priorities with the entire CASTELLE organization. Growing ticket size is key. As the total number of customers continues to stall, it is essential that we trade up each of those existing customers and provide meaningful reasons to spend more per ticket.

www.castelleluxury.com