Decorize art to hit Wal-Mart shelves

The publicly traded home furnishings manufacturer and importer announced in November a deal with Wal-Mart that will feature a collection of nine 36-inch-by-36-inch paintings from J. Michael Sandel, a painter with Decorize subsidiary GuildMaster. The paintings will be in about 200 Wal-Mart stores, according to Decorize Vice President of Sales Scott Hickox.

Hickox said Decorize contacted Wal-Mart when the retailer showed interest after seeing some of Decorize’s high-end work in its High Point, N.C., showroom.

“Our High Point showroom is product for our specialty line – the independent retailers – so we design more upscale, expensive pieces for it,” Hickox said. “But (Wal-Mart) liked the look and saw we understood design and trends.”

The company will take Sandel’s original works and print them in one of its production facilities in China; the pieces will then be touched up to make them look like hand-painted works.

Sandel, who has been with Decorize since its inception in 2000, is no stranger to high-profile work; he has done exclusive designs for Cindy Crawford, Nina Campbell, Broyhill Furniture and, most recently, HGTV’s “Extreme Makeover.”

But the new venture with the ubiquitous big-box retail chain is a first for Sandel, who owned Faith Walk Designs in Houston for 15 years before it merged with Decorize in 2001.

“It’s an attempt to upgrade their art section, because these are all original pieces done for them,” he said. “What attracted us was that it was more contemporary art, but it wasn’t so out there that they felt it missed their customer base. It’s quite a jump for them.”

The Sandel originals should hit shelves in early 2007.

Also, Decorize has extended its partnership with Broyhill Furniture Industries Inc. to design and source an exclusive line of home accessories, lighting, wall decor and accent furniture to be branded under the Broyhill name, according to a company news release. The product will ship on demand to Broyhill dealers early in 2007.