Todo es taps into power of the Internet

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 7/9/2001 12:00:00 AM

MISSION VIEJO, CA —

For some companies, the Internet is an afterthought. For others, it is an opportunity that has yet to be explored. For still others, it's an over-hyped entity that will never be all it's cracked up to be.

For Todo es, it's the only way to do business.

Todo es, based here, manufactures and markets custom-made slipcovers for couches, loveseats, wing chairs, ottomans, armchairs, cushions and folding chairs using primarily the Internet. It is an approach that has proved to be a successful one.

President Sallie Siegal added that one factor helping the company is that women shopping online is one of the fastest growing segments of the Internet.

Siegal said Todo es' complete line of over 100 fabrics and colors is available at todoes.com, including a full range of toiles, prints, faux suede, washed damasks and chenilles. Those consumers who want to use their own fabric are also easily accommodated, she said, as well as those who want fabric from overseas.

Consumers who want a new slipcover, which Siegal said will be sewn together by one to three people, may go to the website and follow the measuring and ordering instructions. Fabric samples may be requested, as well as Red Carpet service, which walks consumers through the measuring process. In four to five weeks, they will receive a new custom-fitted slipcover.

Siegal said the primary customers for Todo es are those who want a slipcover but aren't willing to pay $2,000 to $3,000 for one from an upholstery shop but want one that fits better than a ready-made slipcover. The average retail price point for a full-sized sofa with three cushions, depending upon the fabric, is from $500 to $900. The average consumer order through the website is approximately $500.

"We're constantly working on the website to upgrade the system, the ordering process, or making the forms easier to follow for our customers," Siegal said about the complexity involved in operating a business almost totally online.

There are no plans to offer their slipcovers through any retailer, although Siegal said the company has been approached, nor to open any bricks-and-mortar sites, since it would involve too complex an arrangement or just would not translate successfully to an in-store presence.

For now, Todo es, is content to offer its products direct to consumers via a few clicks of a mouse.

"We wouldn't have been able to do this without the Internet," Siegal said. "We've evolved because it's there."