Two Coalesse leaders — Director of Global Design John Hamilton and General Manager Lew Epstein —answer questions about the role and importance of the Coalesse partner relationships. Here’s their take on why these partnerships work so well.

From its start over 10 years ago, Coalesse has collaborated with a handful of select partners providing complementary products and capabilities. Why are partnerships so important to Coalesse?

John Hamilton: We are looking for companies that can complement us but at the same time bring something to the table that adds to what we’re doing and fits with the mindset or the approach that we take. We start with a business perspective: Is it a great business opportunity for both parties, for us and for our partner?

The partners we’ve chosen, they’re not quick decisions and they’re not made lightly. When we go into these partnerships, we’re always thinking they’ll be for the long term. It’s like a personal relationship — you want to make sure that people that you’re going to be partnered with, you can work with well, collaborate with well. And that they’re going to make us better, and that we can make them better.

I think that’s what we found over the years — that we’ve worked with a lot of great people, and it’s nice to see them getting better and us also getting better with them.

Lew Epstein: Yes. When you take an applications approach to solving your customers’ needs, then you’re looking at the whole work setting. At times you can’t solve for the whole work setting with your existing portfolio. So, it’s a matter of filling in the gaps: ‘I need a partner who could provide me with’ — fill in the blank. It could be lighting or rugs, it could be a certain caliber of execution, it could be a capability with some unique materials.

So, if you think of a company like Sagegreenlife, that’s definitely outside our realm. If you think of Carl Hansen & Son, that’s a company with this rich Danish history, but the common theme is beautiful, modern craft. And so it’s, ‘What is their special medium or their capability that complements ours?’

John Hamilton: And we don’t just sell their goods and send them a check. That’s not how we approach the people we want to work with. We’re looking for people that have good things, that have good thinking, and that are interested in trying to change the ways people are working — or the adjacent spaces that we see people trying to work in — in a way that they think is relevant, and it’s aligned with how we think it’s relevant.

It’s those things together that let us bring something new to the table. And together, we’re better.

Lew Epstein: Right. So if you set aside the products or the capabilities, the relationship is essential. One of the things I think we can be so proud of is the friendships we’ve established with the companies that we’ve been working with, really, for 35 years — even before the formation of Coalesse. When you get to know your partners on that level, it’s a different kind of relationship.

Could you say a little more about what’s special about the relationship between Coalesse and its partners?

John Hamilton: It’s the mutual respect that the two parties have for each other. Our relationships are very respectful of each other and it’s that approach, or way that we operate with each other, that also keeps them open to us and wanting to stick around. And they have other opportunities — there are other companies that are courting them. But I think it’s the respect and the relationship that we have with each other that keeps them with us.

Lew Epstein: Easily. Two things to build on what John pointed out: First, that respect can only come with companies that don’t try to dominate the relationship. It would be easy for us to dominate because of our scale in relationship to some of our partners. That’s not an option that’s on the table, ever, because that wouldn’t be a good partnering behavior.

Another part is trust — getting close enough to a partner that you feel comfortable sharing part of your roadmap, and they do so with you as well. That’s trying to build a common view of where we might go together. You only get there with trust.

It’s equity, it’s balance, it’s fairness, it’s trust, it’s enjoying the partner in a genuine way.

What’s one thing you’ve learned from partnering?

John Hamilton: I guess what I would say I’ve learned is that it’s a lot of work, and it takes nurturing, and it takes empathy, and it takes time.

Lew Epstein: Yes, it takes commitment. You can’t be a fair-weather friend.
John Hamilton: You can go in thinking, ‘Oh, it’s going to be easy, we’re just going to add some new products.’ But it’s not so easy. It’s worth it — but don’t go into it lightly.

How do you select your partners — what does the vetting process look like?

Lew Epstein: It’s rigorous because we don’t limit ourselves to companies that are in close proximity to us. Some businesses base partnership decisions on driving distance or country of origin, such as, ‘We’re an American company, so we will only partner with American companies.’ We have zero limitations. As a result, we have partners from all over the world. That increases the number of choices we have — and then to vet those choices is a rigorous process.

John Hamilton: It’s almost like dating. You might see somebody and think, ‘Oh, that person looks interesting,’ and you might walk over to say hello and if things go well you have a nice conversation. Then you might say, ‘Hey, maybe we could go out for dinner sometime?’ and you slowly build that relationship and mutual interest in each other.

That’s how these things work for us as well. We might see a beautiful chair or a nice table and think, ‘Wow, that would look fantastic in our portfolio.’ But how our conversations develop with that company truly define how we think about a future partnering relationship with them.

Lew Epstein: It takes that process and it takes that time. It’s not just, ‘Hey, that’s really nice; let’s sell some of those.’ It’s so much more. Partners need to add value to what we do and to our story.

How and why have you chosen the partners that you have? Carl Hansen & Son, Viccarbe Imports, EMU and the others — what makes them different from other potential partners?

John Hamilton: I think it’s an affinity. They have a way of looking at the problems they’re thinking about that aligns with our way of thinking. They’re thinking about work and the types of workplaces with a similar sensibility. They have a visual language and taste that’s aligned with ours.

Coalesse, especially its visual style and language, has a California, mid-century modern, contemporary look and feel, and there are many European companies that have that as well. So as you start asking, ‘Why that company?’ The answer is usually that they have a certain look and feel that aligns with us, they’re going after different problems but doing things in similar ways, and the questions they are chasing are intriguing to us as well.’

Lew Epstein: A couple of examples to build on what John said: If you take Viccarbe as an example, they have a certain like-mindedness. Even though they’re based in Spain, they’re working with designers from around the world — so they have a global view, as does Coalesse.

With EMU, we wanted to cross the line from the indoors to the outdoors. To do so, we needed to find the right partner. And within EMU’s portfolio was a collection that was created by some of the same designers that we were using and that Viccarbe was using. And so, again, there’s this like-mindedness in the caliber of design and execution. So those became additions to the portfolio.

And over the course of time, we’ve developed a close relationship with the company owners, enjoying them as people and getting a sense of how we can grow the business together even more.

There are things that tell us, ‘Yeah, they’re interesting, they’re like us, they’re thinking about these ideas that are related to us, they’re bringing a different point of view. They’re global and they’ve got an international aesthetic.’

But then there are other important parts too, like they have a similar history and similar values. I think there’s something to that as well — there’s more to it than just, ‘Oh, they’re doing a nice thing.’

What can you tell us about the types of partnerships we might see for Coalesse in the future? What’s catching your eye?

Lew Epstein: When we think about future partnerships, we think about applications and about work — how our products and capabilities support that.

Looking at a whole application, what might we still need to complete that story?

A new area of partnership for us over the last couple of years is with rug companies. Rugs are a really effective way to help complete an application. They define the territory. They ground settings. And if they’re made in the same way that we approach our products — with craft and with the right materials — they can become very distinctive and inviting.

A rug adds a sensibility that defines the space. And when you place our products on top of the right rug, it creates greater warmth and comfort. That’s what I think we’re trying to instill in everything we do.

Right now, nanimarquina is a great example of where we’re going and what we’re doing. We’ve just announced them as our newest partnership.

John Hamilton: With nanimarquina we created a rug line — some for indoor, some for outdoor — with multiple colorways and multiple construction techniques. It’s a nice example of ‘next.’ Think about where we play, the types of spaces we’re trying to create:

Social spaces, where we’re trying to promote social connections between people: What could we add to those applications to make them even better?

Collaborative settings, where we’re trying to help generate something new — collaborative moments where people walk out with something they didn’t walk in with. What else could we offer to encourage that?

Personal focus, rejuvenation: If you think about these little spaces we’re trying to create, what could a partner bring to complement what we’re doing and help complete that story, help complete that application? Make it richer than it was before?

Lew Epstein: The other thing I’m always interested in is the expertise a partner could bring. If we tried to figure out how to make rugs, it would take us a hundred years to get where nanimarquina is today.

I think nanimarquina is a good example for a couple of reasons. John talked about this ‘dating process’ that goes on in selecting a partner. Our relationship with nanimarquina started three years ago. It was an ongoing dialogue of getting to know them and then deciding, What should we do together now that we know we respect each other? We have an affinity for the caliber of work, materials, and so forth — now what is it that we’re trying to solve for? To solve for that in a thoughtful way together took a considerable amount of time.

The other thing that’s interesting is that it’s a family-owned company, about 35 years old, philosophically very grounded, very consistent, creative, beautiful. So again, there’s that nice family story that values the experience of working together, whether we meet in Barcelona, in Munich or here in the United States. This ongoing relationship is a very rewarding experience.

John Hamilton: And the practices they believe in — using the right materials, using the right supply chain, not taking advantage of people. And then completely believing that it is all about craft.

Lew Epstein: Then when you have an offering like this, there’s also a more business-related and marketing-related question, which is: Will people think of Coalesse for rugs with nanimarquina alone? What’s the critical mass in a category like rugs that’s needed to be successful and offer enough choice?
We already have the Arzu Rug Collection for Coalesse, which has its own visual language, its own price point. It too has a beautiful story that’s rooted in a social cause — very thoughtful about materials and treating people the right way. And now we have nanimarquina.

What else is on the horizon as you think about partners?

John Hamilton: We’re interested in this idea of how the indoors can go out and how the outdoors can come in, and I think there’s an opportunity for us to find somebody who can help us do more of those things. EMU does that for us in some ways, but not in all the ways that we’re imagining. We have a relatively new partnership with Sagegreenlife we’ve been exploring with too. You can imagine that growing and as we think about these types of settings, we’ll be asking, ‘What else is needed to truly deliver on that promise?’

Lew Epstein: Right. That’s a domain that can continue to expand. So with each partner, when you know where the others are going, you can keep expanding into new domains. What’s interesting about Sagegreenlife is you can think about it as a new medium, just like rugs are a new medium for us. And so there may be some other materials over time that become yet another new medium.

But we always come back to the key applications that we’re addressing — the work modes we’ve identified. That way we’re staying on brand, we’re sticking to our point of view, but we’re enriching work at each turn with a partner.