LofaBed Has That "Furniture Look"

"The futon has finally reached it's potential," according to Mitch Wapen of Lofa Sales International in Montreal. "Since I first got into this business in the early 1980's I've been wanting to market a product that could compete successfully with the traditional Hide-A-Bed. We've come a long way from the early days of the student futon frames and all-cotton futons, but until now, we still didn't have a model that looked like the average sofa-bed. And my feeling was that until we did, we'd have difficulty penetrating the mainstream marketplace that expects a sofa-bed to have a certain...furniture look," Wapen said.

Wapen adds, "Now we've got it. The LofaBed is extremely well-made by manufacturer, Danabel, Inc. A Canadian company that only makes upholstered furniture, Danabel has done so for over 26 years! Some of the advantages the LofaBed has over traditional sofa-beds are that it has a 7-inch base for storing sheets, blankets, and pillows; a fabric covered 8-inch buttoned futon supported by elastic webbing; removable and interchangeable arms for easy handling and multiple styling; and a davenport mechanism the most user-friendly convertible system I've ever seen. Perhaps best of all is the fact that it's prices to retail at US $499.00!"

According to Wapen, the LofaBed comes in a variety of fabrics ranging in style from beautiful jeweltone motifs of the American southwest, to plaids, solids, Quebec avant-garde, as well as theme tapestries...thirty in all. The customer chooses whether to mix 'n match or have both base and futon made the same. All this and delivery in only two weeks!

 Lofa Sales Intros New Pine Futon Frame & Buttoned Futons from Danabel

Lofa Sales recently introduced the "Laurentian", "Cartier", and "Oriental" pine futon frames from Atelier de Bois J. A. Viens, plus three accompanying 8-inch upholstered (buttoned) futons by Danabel. "This combination of style, comfort, practicality, and value pricing has brought futon furniture not only into the nineties, but also into the family (living) rooms, dens, and cottages of our nation," said Mitch Wapen of Lofa Sales, Montréal.

Viens, Danabel, and Lofa like to think they had something to do with that, since among the three of them they share more than thirty years' experience in developing, manufacturing and marketing futon furniture. "We think the futon industry will agree, these latest products are the best ever," said Wapen. The Cartier and the Laurentian each feature a front 'square' leg and, in keeping with industry trends, are four inches higher than older models like the Tyson and Classic. The Laurentian even takes the furniture look one step further by cleverly covering up all previously exposed arm hardware. "In fact, if you didn't know that this was futon furniture, you could never tell by just looking at it," Wapen said.

In an attempt to make their futons more attractive to mainstream consumers, they have decided to upgrade the quality of the foam (four 1-inch layers) to 1.5 density and then to combine that with a soft compression. "What this gives you is a long-lasting, very comfortable futon. One that fits just as easily in a studio sleeper as a double bi-fold. The buttons give it more of that furniture look we've been alluding to, as well as a cost savings", Wapen said.

Wapen added that if you've been waiting for futons to go mainstream, or to appeal to a more affluent consumer, or look and feel more like traditional furniture your wait is over. "Futons have evolved. They're furniture now and they're here to stay. And for those of us who have been in it from the beginning, all Viens, Danabel, and Lofa can say is, 'It's about time!'" he said.

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