Silky smooth: Interior design firm sales sprout 20%

SARASOTA — Lux-Art Silks International, a multimillion-dollar decorative artificial flower and plant interior design firm, is on the rebound after several years of sales decreases.

Annual revenues, in fact, increased more than 20% in 2012 over 2011, says Lux-Art President Scott Brann, and the first quarter is also up 20% against last year. “We are very tied to the homebuilding industry,” Brann told the Business Observer in an interview today. “That's on the rebound and we get the trickle-down effect of that.”

The Sarasota-based firm, says Brann, is also poised for a big April: The firm is moving into a new showroom location at the International Home Furnishings Center High Point Market, which is scheduled for April 20-25 in High Point, N.C. The market, held twice a year, is the home furnishing industry's largest dealer and buyer event, says Brann. It attracts more than 70,000 buyers. Says Brann: “It's the largest market we do.”

Lux-Art has had a display at the show for 25 years, but never in the main showroom. This year, though, the company is in the main showroom in what Brann says is a high-traffic area next to permanent botanicals industry giants like Global Views and Palecek. “Finding the right location was the key for us,” Brann says in a statement. “We're now showing in an easy-to-access location on the second floor of the design center.”

Lux-Art, which operates a 50,000-square-foot showroom, design, manufacturing and warehouse center off U.S. 301, plans to introduce more than 150 new items at the show. The showroom space is being remodeled for the upcoming event. “We took up the floor to expose the polished cement, and we removed the glass walls to open the showroom directly into the hall,” Brann says in the statement. “The space now has a friendly, open-air kind of feel that is very inviting.”