Joe's Story
An Industry Leader Since 2000
CFI has been on the internet since January 2000 as Contract-Furnishings.com.
CFI Incorporated in January 2003. CFI owner Joe Griffin has served the Outdoor Furniture Industry since 1982. More than 42 years. He is a Vietnam-Era service-disabled veteran… Go Navy!
Joe has a lot of knowledge and experience in the Commercial Outdoor Furniture Industry.
After Joe's Honorable Medical Discharge from the US Navy in 1974, he became an associate manufacturer's representative for his father Jesse, at Fashion-Craft Mfg, selling upholstered interior furniture - sofas, sleepers, swivel rockers, recliners etc., to retail furniture stores along Florida's East Coast, from Vero Beach to Key West. Fashion-Craft Mfg went out of business in about 1980. Afterwards, Jesse and Joe both attended Manatee Community College for a year or so.
Jesse went on to sell real estate. Joe found his passion for outdoor pool furniture.
In 1982 Joe became a manufacturer's representative, selling 'liquid polyurethane-coated' aluminum pool & patio furniture, as well as providing restrapping and refinishing options to retail furniture stores and commercial accounts along Florida's West Coast, from Spring Hill to Orlando to Marco Island. (Fun Fact: We still work with the principals of that original patio furniture factory, in its current form, today.) Joe's first big commercial sale was to Busch Gardens theme park in Tampa, Florida in 1984. Busch Gardens inspired Joe. 🙌🙌
In 1996, Joe began going into business for himself, selling commercial outdoor furniture and umbrellas, to primarily commercial accounts. Joe began to buy various lines direct, which did not please some of the principals he worked with at that time. In January 2000, Joe opened the first CFI (Contract Furnishings, Inc) website and CFI took off like a rocket.🚀 By 2005, Joe was 💯 in business for himself, at age 50. In 2006, Joe brought Jesse into CFI to consult on wicker & rattan furniture and resin furniture. Jesse had health issues, traveled a lot, worked part time and retired completely in 2012.
CFI was originally a patio furniture company. Over the years, CFI acquired more and more manufacturers and product lines. By 2013 we were virtually a Full-Line Furniture Store with our own 24' truck, which traveled all over Florida and occasionally beyond. We represented 17 factories and offered more than 10,000 items - It was difficult to manage.
Today CFI is a multimillion-dollar company with many commercial accounts, including Government accounts, HOAs, Waterparks, Municipalities and DoS - worldwide, and more.
All but a few of CFI's furniture products are 100% Made in the USA. Some of CFI's commercial outdoor furniture items, mostly resin sling chaises and resin sling folding chairs, are imported from Spain & France. And some of CFI's umbrella frames are made to our own unique specifications, in our co-owned factory in China. Our umbrella covers are made and installed in America.
In late 2019, I had premonitions. Due to various circumstances and concerns, I took our CFI Truck off the road (and sold it to one of our factories.) A couple months later, the Covid Pandemic hit with a bang. However, the Pandemic came just after we had arranged our orders in House, and had made substantial new 'Factory Direct Agreements.' We had no idea Covid was coming. But we were brilliantly prepared for it!
We give God all the honor and the glory. It was a major blessing for CFI, to be ready.
There were serious Supply Chain disruptions. Getting products was a real challenge for a while. Several key factories worked closely with us to fill every order. These factories became our CFI Group of 7. Thankfully, there are no longer Supply Chain concerns.
New CFI
We had already begun a Stern Review of our offerings and then we took out the surgical knife. We refocused on our Core Business....a ‘much narrower product line.’ We went back to our roots: Commercial Outdoor Furniture and Umbrellas, Including Site Furnishings: Picnic tables, benches, waste receptacles, etc., and Made in America.
Current Events
In May 2023 we were advised by our 'new landlords' that our rent amount would double at the end of our lease, November 30th, 2023. We had been at that location for 20 years. We said, 'no way' and began months of an increasingly frantic search for a suitable new location to purchase. We didn't want to rent again, certainly not at double the rate.
Unfortunately, our desire to be located in Sarasota, Florida, offered limited commercial real estate inventory, so we had a difficult task to navigate. We chose our Pastor’s wife, Robin Weaver of Florida Style Realty, as our 'God's Team' real estate agent, on her very first commercial sale. In the end, we were led to an amazing property with a perfect warehouse space, built in 2005, (and it wasn't even on the market). Robin skillfully led us through the expedited Buying/Selling & Closing in just 22 days.....miraculous!
We were also led to an amazing Management team; Dale & Lindsey Wanting of Prime Commercial, who enabled us to completely remodel the warehouse space and move in, beautifully, on time, and again, miraculous.
Joe bought the warehouse space sight unseen and owned it before we ever walked in the door. We remodeled the new CFI building from floors to ceilings, and created a comfortable new space that is ideal for our purposes. Our New Showroom features a 35’ x 10’ Caribbean Beach mural and plenty of space to showcase a sampling of our most popular products.
We have focused on: The Best of the Best.
Thank you and best regards,
Joe Griffin President
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