Armen Living’s acquisition continues a rich legacy and keeps existing staff to oversee a seamless transition, without delaying production or orders.
We are excited to share news on the purchase of Uwharrie Chair Company. This change in ownership will unlock limitless design possibilities and significantly fuel the company’s future growth.”
— Kevin Kevonian, owner of Armen Living and Uwharrie Chair
HIGH POINT, NC, UNITED STATES, January 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — California based contemporary home furnishings brand, Armen Living, is excited to share news on their recent purchase of North Carolina outdoor manufacturer Uwharrie Chair Company. (pronounced you-WAH-ree) which is named after the Uwharrie National Forest and River near High Point, N.C.
“We are excited to share the news, of our purchase of the Uwharrie Chair Company, and to grow the Armen Living family by joining forces with their team.“ Kevin Kevonian, owner, President, and CEO, shared, “This change in ownership will unlock limitless possibilities in design and add significant fuel to the future growth of their company. Providing new resources to their business, and expanding their customer base, which will preserve the company’s legacy of manufacturing beautifully made outdoor furniture that resonates with trade buyers and designers all across the country.“
Kevin shared his initial talks with the Uwharrie Chair Company, started during High Point Market, where both owners found camaraderie, and a sharing of core values and ethics around their family-owned businesses, and their goal to manufacture the highest quality products.
Armen Living’s first showing of the Uwharrie Chair Company, will begin at Atlanta Winter Market, starting on Monday, January 12, 2026 through Monday, January 19, 2026 in their AmericasMart showroom B1-FL 6- A-2, followed by a showing at Las Vegas Market, January 25-29, 2026 at Armen Living’s World Market Center showroom in Bldg B, FL 7, Space B762. National Sales Manager, Reb Nicholson commented, “We are excited to begin showcasing Uwharrie’s beautiful benchmade outdoor furniture at our upcoming Winter Markets. Where we invite our existing retail customers, designers and trade buyers to explore their collections alongside Armen Living’s award-winning outdoor furniture.”
To celebrate this exciting news, Armen Living will host trade buyers during a Cozy Winter Social on Tuesday, January 13 and Wednesday, January 14, 2026. Morning hospitality from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm includes delicious snacks, gourmet popcorn, custom coffee, hot cocoa and an array of fun & cozy winter toppings. Cozy Winter Social afternoon hospitality from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm includes Happy Hour Drinks, Beer, Wine and Cocktails! Each event will offer buyers a free showroom tour to experience Armen Living’s new arrivals, and the chance to discover the beauty of the Uwharrie Chair Company’s best selling designs.
“We can’t wait to host our design community at Atlanta Market and to show off our newest designs. Armen Living will showcase 50 new casual outdoor products for Winter 2026, and we will incorporate the soft launch for our new Uwharrie Chair line.” Holly Lightfoot, Director of Product Development and Showrooms at Armen Living, shares, “The excitement of adding Uwharrie Chair to our existing customer base is palpable. Our in-house design and sales team has begun communicating with many of our Top 100 Retailer and Ecommerce accounts, who want to see and try Uwharrie’s outdoor designs. Their capabilities is a white space, with endless possibilities for what the future of product development and design looks like at Uwharrie Chair. Combining our development and sales strategies with their domestic manufacturing and benchmade quality, we will entice new customers, for both residential and hospitality industries. With a goal of expanding their reach and brand awareness to attract high-end luxury designers, resorts, vacation rentals, Airbnb’s, VRBO’s, and commercial property owners, like never before.
Uwharrie Chair’s Collections are made to order, completely customizable and Made in America. Their unique outdoor furniture combines classic American styling with extraordinary comfort and character and is filled with colorful options, from Adirondack-style outdoor chairs and their accompanying pieces, which are available in a variety of styles, including traditional, transitional, and contemporary designs. Renowned for their decades long and successful reputation, and as a go-to resource for quality craftsmanship, their collections are built to last, generously scaled, sturdy and robust, by artisans in North Carolina, for outdoor enthusiasts from all walks of life.
Handcrafted to each client’s custom specifications, and finished to provide long-lasting comfort and character for any outdoor environment. The process for creating kiln-dried pressure-treated southern yellow pine, an American renewable resource, features a unique distressed finish treatment that provides an antique, weathered appearance on the pine wood; with additional design options by request that can be custom painted and finished with no distressing.
Erica Lloyd, Owner of Uwharrie Chair Company, commented: “Uwharrie Chair Company has always been about craftsmanship, durability, and doing right by our customers. I’m proud of what we’ve built, and I’m confident Armen Living is the right partner to carry that legacy forward—with the resources to help Uwharrie grow while staying true to what makes it special. With the scale, operational support, and a shared commitment to product integrity that Armen Living brings to the table, I believe this transition positions the brand for meaningful growth without losing the authenticity that defines Uwharrie.”
The purchase and ownership transaction of Uwharrie Chair Company, a family-owned and operated business, closed on December 19, 2025. In managing the operation of the new business, Armen Living will add to its existing customer service center at its corporate headquarters in Valencia, CA, with a team of dedicated account holders who will service and manage Uwharrie’s existing clientele and set up new trade accounts for new customers. Erica Lloyd, the previous owner will stay on to oversee a seamless transition, and to not delay or interrupt production or current orders. The acquisition will also include keeping all of the existing staff, which consists of a small and dedicated team, who have worked for the company for many years, and who have seen decades of success as a North Carolina-based domestic manufacturer.
“Through the merging of our two iconic brands, we will ensure future success, and business growth for each company with exciting new collections coming soon.” Kevin Kevonian, owner of Armen Living and Uwharrie Chair commented, “Uwharrie will operate as a separate brand from Armen Living including a separate website and positioned as premium, American-made custom outdoor furniture.” Uwharrie Chair offers Domestic Distribution out of its manufacturing facility in North Carolina.
This exciting news is just one of several moves Armen Living has planned for the new year as it continues its legendary 49-year company history. Their sales and marketing team invite market buyers to join them at Atlanta Market, January 13-19, 2026 at AmericasMart, Bldg 1, Fl 6, Showroom A-2, to explore 100’s of new outdoor products for Winter 2026 and to discover the beauty of Uwharrie Chair Company.
Discover Armen Living’s full category of new arrivals including bar, dining, living, and occasional design alongside new outdoor at Winter Las Vegas Market, January 25-29, 2026 and the Summer Las Vegas Market, July 26-30, 2026 at World Market Center, (475 Grand Central Pkwy, Bldg B, 7th Floor, Showroom B762, Las Vegas, NV 89106. And at the High Point Market, on April 25-28, 2026, and on October 17-21, 2026 in IHFC Bldg, 201 E. Commerce Ave, Hamilton Wing, Showroom H721, High Point, NC, 27260.
About Uwharrie Chair Company’s Story
Just south of the nation’s furniture capital, High Point, North Carolina, a small rocky stream meanders through the quiet, rolling countryside. It flows by old farmsteads and new neighborhoods, dead gold mines and living forests, eventually becoming the Uwharrie River (pronounced you-WAH-ree). Ultimately, the water reaches the Uwharrie Mountains, a small range occupied centuries ago by Native Americans DeSoto called the Suala. The name “Uwharrie” is attributed to them, a conclusion supported by references in John Lawson’s 1701 journal documenting a visit to “Heighwarrie”. Today the Uwharrie Mountains and Uwharrie National Forest are known for their abundance of wildlife, deep recreational lakes, and peaceful, natural beauty. The name is synonymous with rustic charm and relaxation. Providing our customers with a lifestyle for a lifetime, perhaps the best description of the Original Uwharrie Chair.
Hand Crafted With Love
Uwharrie Chair’s unique outdoor furniture collections combine classic American styling with extraordinary comfort and character. These heavy, generously scaled products are crafted from kiln-dried pressure treated southern yellow pine, an American renewable resource or Premium Uwharrie Polymer, which is manufactured from purified blends of post consumer, pre consumer and/or virgin HDPE (high density polyethylene) base resins. A distressed finish treatment provides an antique, weathered appearance on the pine; upon request the pine can be painted with no distressing. Hand crafted to your construction needs and price needs, these chairs and their companion pieces will provide comfort and character.
Our wooden outdoor furniture is crafted of hand selected, domestically harvested, pressure treated solid pine. Available in 1” thick pine, the wood of choice for ski lodge decks, marina docks and landscape walks, treated lumber offers distinct advantages over the traditional outdoor materials, it may be stained or painted (or left natural), and it’s milled from a renewable resource: plantation grown southern pine. Uwharrie Chair Company’s 1” thick wooden outdoor furniture has a limited lifetime warranty against rot, water damage and insect infestation. As the pine ages naturally in all our wood products, you should expect to see some additional loss of paint and some surface cracking. Our outdoor furniture crafted from Premium Uwharrie Polymer is colored through and offered in a variety of finishes. It’s perfect for outdoor use; warranted for a lifetime against rotting, decaying, water damage and insect infestation.
Armen Living
Style leaders in design, Armen Living celebrates bold individuality, vibrant youthfulness, sensual refinement, and expert craftsmanship at fiscally sensible prices. “Each piece we design and develop conveys self-expression while resonating with a contemporary chic lifestyle.” Armen Living is the quintessential modern-day furniture designer and manufacturer, with a full line of indoor and outdoor furnishings for every room including bar, dining, living, office, bedroom, and outdoor living spaces. The result is a fashion-forward collection that is enhanced by sophisticated urban-retro aesthetics and all designed with quality craftsmanship, durable materials and without breaking your budget.
Open to the trade, their customers consist of retailers, designers, stagers, and hospitality purveyors across the globe. With a distribution center centrally located in Southern California, Armen Living offers exceptional and dependable service and is known as a wholesale company with stylish modern designs. Their brand is one of the leading resources in the country with over 500 SKUs just in their barstool category alone. Featuring a wide assortment of styles, sizes, materials, colors, and finishes – while more than 50% of their barstools are original designs – you won’t find anywhere else.
Supporting the hospitality industries their company is able to extend its full custom capabilities to effectively and efficiently meet all of its contract clients’ needs. Providing unsurpassed and unparalleled attention to detail their fully integrated supply chain solution from product designs, to the drawing board, and the manufacturing process and distribution is beyond compare. With flexibility and speed, Armen Living’s production meets demands throughout the USA and extends to worldwide markets, exceeding their client’s expectations at every level of interaction. Armenliving.com
###
Serena A Martin
24/7 Creative Agency
serenamartin247@gmail.com
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability
for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this
article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
