Furniture for hard-to-fill spaces

ROOM TO GROW: Modulus Furniture owner Nicholas Besedin and General Manager Jeff Morrill. The manufacturer’s products will be sold at Cardi’s Furniture stores beginning next month. /
ROOM TO GROW: Modulus Furniture owner Nicholas Besedin and General Manager Jeff Morrill. The manufacturer’s products will be sold at Cardi’s Furniture stores beginning next month. /

Hoteliers, property managers, office supervisors and others who need to furnish odd-sized rooms with stylish but sturdy couches and chairs, upholstered and made of materials from local suppliers often turn to Modulus Furniture Inc. in Pawtucket.
The company, whose products Cardi’s Furniture stores will begin selling next month, specializes in making furniture to fit the most difficult places. “Any space you have to fill, we can fill,” said Don Lockard, a partner in the business whose furniture graces hotels and institutions across the country, from Providence to Texas and New York City.
The modular chairs and sectional sofas come with removable arms and backs, making it easy to slip them into tight nooks and crannies. If a chair or sofa is damaged, repair can be as simple as replacing a back or arm rather than the whole piece. Local suppliers, Lockard said, provide the wood, steel, foam and even the staple guns used to manufacture the furniture on-site at the Pawtucket factory.
Lockard explained that each piece is not custom-made, but neither is it the product of an assembly line. “Our pieces are not one-of-a-kind, but they still can be unique to your living space,” he said. “We give a lifetime warranty on the frame, which you don’t often find in our industry.” Fabrics in 130 colors and patterns provide the finishing touch.
Although the business has a showroom to display samples to prospective buyers, no retail sales take place at the Pawtucket site. Rather, Modulus sells to retail furniture stores, to the hospitality industry and to institutions such as nursing homes, Lockard said.
For instance, he recounted how the Biltmore Hotel in Providence wanted furniture larger than in most hotels due to the expansive size of some rooms there, and Modulus was able to provide it. Sectional sofas, Lockard said, can range in size from as small as a 3-foot apartment-sized loveseat to a sprawling 30-foot couch.
The company provided pieces to the Rhode Island International Film Festival in Providence earlier this month, for the VIP lounge and panel discussions.
Nicholas Besedin, also a Modulus partner, noted that the company sells furniture to hotels, restaurants and institutions throughout the U.S. “This is the fastest-growing segment of our business,” Besedin said. “We work with companies, designers and architects to do whatever is necessary.” For example, Modulus provided furniture for the Millenium Hilton near the former site of the World Trade Center in New York City, according to Besedin, and this month was scheduled to ship more than 80 pieces to Best Western in Texas.
For those in a rush, Modulus can help. “We can get the product to you quicker than you can get it any other place,” Lockard said. He estimated in general a two-week turnaround between order and delivery, suggesting that no foreign manufacturers can fill orders so swiftly.
Lockard gives credit to Lt. Gov. Elizabeth H. Roberts for helping the business obtain what he called “the important new” relationship with Cardi’s.
Although discussions were ongoing between Modulus and the furniture store chain when Roberts visited the Pawtucket factory as part of her “Buy Local R.I.” campaign in May, her interest helped cement the deal, according to Lockard. A local newspaper snapped a photo of Roberts sitting on a Modulus sofa and, Lockard said, he made sure that picture was framed and on the wall next time the Cardi’s representatives visited.
According to the Cardi brothers, Nick, Ron and Pete Cardi, the plan is to have Modulus furniture in the showrooms of all seven Cardi’s Furniture stores by the first or second week of September. One of the largest furniture retailers in southeastern New England, Cardi’s has stores in West Warwick and South Kingstown in Rhode Island, South Attleboro, Fall River, Hyannis, Swansea and Braintree in Massachusetts.
“It’s a wonderful local company,” Pete Cardi said of Modulus, “with a good quality product.” And, of course, noted the Cardi brothers – whose grandparents came from Italy and settled in the Knightsville section of Cranston – they are delighted to be doing business with a Rhode Island manufacturer that uses local products and employs local people.
“Their focus is here,” Pete Cardi said of Modulus. “Those dollars are being kept local and keeping local people working. That’s a win-win for everybody.” &#8226?COMPANY PROFILE
Modulus Furniture Inc.
OWNERS: Nicholas Besedin, Victor Goldenberg, Eugene Goldenberg and Don Lockard
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Manufacturer of upholstered sofas and chairs
LOCATION: 99 Webster St., Pawtucket
EMPLOYEES: 30
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2003
ANNUAL SALES: $3 million

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1 COMMENT

  1. I wonder how Cardi’s isn’t aware that Modulus is in serious litigation in RI Superior Court with Divon Furniture of Providence, who’s technology and manufacturing facilities they initially leased. Divon is suing Modulus for a whole host of violations of their intellectual property rights, breach of contract, software theft, etc!

    Cardi’s is certainly opening itself up for a serious law suit by Divon. Especially since I have it on good authority that Cardi’s was in negotiations with Divon about selling their product as far back as 2006. So Cardi’s knows about Divon product and would be smart to stay clear of this hornet nest.

    Same for “Buy Local RI”.