Zad Designs & Manufacturing
- Where Technology Meets Craftsmanship

There is something about the entrepreneurial spirit that draws people to the futon furniture industry. Akim Azad and his wife Heewon met at the University of California at Santa Barbara where he studied electrical engineering and she international education. After a season for him in the industrial sector and for her in education they began a process that now has them in both the futon retail business and the futon manufacturing business in and around the Santa Barbara/Oxnard area.

“We have a 41,000 square foot plant in Oxnard,” said Azad,“and three beautiful Futon Gallery retail stores, in Oxnard, Ventura, and Santa Barbara.”

The couple started in retail with the goal of vertically integrating into full scale futon manufacturing. “We started first with the retail because that was the best way to see how and what sells,” Azad said. They soon moved into a small 700 square foot manufacturing space in Goleta, CA. It was here that they began making their first futon mattresses. They realized that most futon mattresses were made very differently than conventional mattresses. “We wanted to make our futon mattresses look more like a regular, traditional mattress,” said Azad, “and we also wanted them to be sold as ‘premium’.”

After purchasing a lace tufter and tape edge machine Zad Designs began producing their line and became well known among the local futon stores as a premium supplier. “We slowly gained a reputation of being a premium vendor, and we presently supply futon mattresses to mainly west coast dealers, as well as customers in Alaska and Hawaii,” he said.

In 1995 Zad Designs, to the best of my knowledge, showed the first pillow top futon mattress at the Winter San Francisco show and was written up in Bed Times at that time as an influence of positive motion in the futon furniture industry.

“The pillow top futon mattress was a natural step in our desire to produce a premium line of futon products,” he said.

The second step in the process was frame manufacturing. Azad had been bringing in product of his own design from Indonesia and selling the imports at all his futon stores. “We gained a great deal of experience by importing our own futon frame designs,” said Azad, “but importing has its drawbacks.”

Like many others before him Azad experienced a lack of quality control and a slow process of correcting problems. “As we began to see our business grow we decided to take the same steps with frames that we did with futon mattresses, and bring production in house,” Azad said.

In the beginning the firm made only pine futon frames, but has added alder and oak futons to its collection.

The final part of the puzzle came together in 1997 when the company began to manufacture its own softgoods collection. “It was a natural step for us to move into softgoods,” said Heewon Azad. “We had been making our own mattress casings for years for our futon mattress production so making futon covers and other softgoods became an extension of what we were already doing.”

Currently Zad Design & Manufacturing is producing a line of fine futon covers in their self proclaimed ‘west coast look.’ “We are well positioned to deliver an extensive line of futon products for the futon specialty retailer,” said Azad, “Especially in the softgoods area.”

“Our next major challenge is streamlining our on-time delivery system for our retail dealers,” Azad said. By doing so Zad Designs believes their dealers can expect shorter delivery times and inventory reductions in their on-hand inventory. “We also have some very ambitious plans to develop a gallery program that will promote our futon frame and furniture programs,” he said. Azad told us that it has always been his mission to create premium products that will be well designed for style and function so American families will realize the beautiful way in which futon furniture can enhance their homes.

“It is the job of manufacturers and retailers to display, merchandise, and sell futon furniture like traditional furniture dealers do. Our futon furniture is well made and designed, and along with some of the other bedroom and living room pieces we are adding to our line, should provide a definite advantage to our futon dealers,” he said.

FL