A Futon Life Special Feature Story: La Maison Saman: The Daniel Fiset Story

Daniel Fiset has a long history in the futon industry. Like many of the early pioneers, he started before the boomtimes of the early to mid eighties and developed most of his futon products in the Canadian market. Today he is still selling to futon retailers but his product is revolutionary and it couldn't have come at a better time. Editor

This story begins in the early 80's when Daniel Fiset met Canadian futon pioneer Gaudry Normand, whom he hadn't seen in more than a decade. "Gaudry was a childhood friend of mine, but we had lost contact for a long time," said Fiset

"In the course of our meeting he told me that he was working in the futon industry and that he was also operating a retail futon shop," he said. The futon market in Canada was in its infancy then, and an incredible explosion was about to take place. Normand mentioned to Fiset that he was looking for a manufacturer that would provide him with futon frames. "Another friend of mine, Gilles Tremblay, was there that day. Gaudry asked us if we were tempted by the venture. I was in and out of work at the time. I had no clear idea of what "manufacture" meant. Being a jack-of-all-trades, and having pursued studies in computer sciences, I had become an expert in the role of administration. Gilles, on his part, was a carpenter," Fiset said.

They needed a third associate and went to see a friend of theirs, Jean-Pierre Roy, who agreed to join them. Thus, in 1984,Boisinove was founded. "Among the three associates, I was the one who managed the administrative tasks. Because of the effervescence of the market, we were kept quite busy for some time. After our very first year of operation, we had sales of $264,000 (Canadian). Two years later our sales reached $750,000 (Canadian) and we moved into a larger space in order to expand. The growth seemed endless. We were ecstatic. We finished our third year with sales skyrocketing over $1.5 million. Those were the good old days. All horizons were open. A-frame futons were made out of maple, birch, and even...oak," he said.

All fairy tales come to an end and their's was no exception. Gradually, many new players came into the futon market. They had to look for new techniques and new materials in order to adjust to the new requirements of the market and to the "price only" phenomenon. "We had to innovate thus the name of our company, which translates literally into "wood innovation" and find, by some means, ways to build futon frames at lower costs," he said.

In 1992, while looking for a new location, they had to deal with the Ministry of Environment. "The government demanded nothing less than the complete cessation of our activities with our nitro-cellulose based lacquers. In Quebec, the regulations concerning the VOC emissions are the strictest in North America, but are usually not strictly enforced. Unfortunately for us, we inherited a zealous civil servant and quickly lost our previously acquired rights. Anyway, we had to obey the law," he said. Since he was best acquainted with the suppliers, Fiset was responsible for the affair. "We had to concentrate on water-based products. But sadly, even those were problematic. I discovered that it is not enough for a product to be water-based in order for it to be environment-friendly," said Fiset.

After much research Fiset decided to develop a product exclusively for his purposes that would satisfy the environmental regulations. The product had to be of the same quality as products that were thinner-based...without polluting. The development took 18 months and even at the end there still existed a major problem. The product was double the price of any other product in its category, not to mention the fact that they had to modify all their equipment in order to make it compatible with the water-based product. "I was none-theless extremely proud of our "green" policy. I felt that we were participating, with our small step, in the protection of the environment," he said.

Although they had a "green" product, they ended up selling their finished futon products at a much higher price than their competitors, which was sometimes hard to explain.

"It was then that the idea of offering a similar alternative to the consumer came to me. Seventy percent of the products we sold were not finished, and I thought to myself, 'Is it possible to offer finishing products to consumers that could be easily applied, without safety risks to the consumer or the environment, and that would still be inexpensive?,'" said Fiset. "I was beginning to be better acquainted with chemicals and their structure, so I returned to see the chemists that had developed the water-based lacquers and let them in on my projects. After many months of testing our team had created a water-based, non-toxic stain made from new revolutionary coalescents that were non-flammable and were safe for the user as well as for the environment. My dream was becoming a reality, and LA MAISON SAMAN was born," he said. After much research they determined the ideal package for the market was a four-ounce plastic bottle. This was the quantity required to stain an A or L futon frame. Also, the plastic bottle could be rinsed and recycled. But most importantly, such concerns as airing out rooms, intoxication from fumes, special wood treatments, and special care could be dismissed. "The beginnings of LA MAISON SAMAN were very quiet. It was only a sideline for me at the time, since I was working 60 to 70 hours a week for Boisinove and later for TDU. After several years of work with these companies I was ready for a new challenge. My wife and I had started to prepare ourselves to give LA MAISON SAMAN the time it deserved," he said.

Fiset thought for a long time about the question of marketing and eventually found an answer. "We established a turn-key program especially designed for futon retailers. In addition to the SAMAN® stains now available in a unique selection of 18 colors in four-ounce and eight-ounce formats, our research team developed a top-coating that has the same characteristics as our stains. SAMAN's clear finish 160-031 satin or 160-051 semi-gloss are offered in a 16-ounce format. We can also provide consumers with professional cloths, sold in groups of four, to apply the stains. All of this is presented in a beautifully stylized pine cabinet surmounted with a headboard containing our explanatory brochure. Therefore, for a minimum investment, the retailer obtains a magnificent display (value $300) filled with finishing products," said Fiset. The display itself requires only two square feet of space. "We feel that this constitutes a very good investment because it probably will be the best profit per-square-foot a retailer will make," he said.

FL