SeatsAndChairs.com sells home theater seats around the world, with UPS in a supporting role 

Sitting pretty: Wil Kovacs, co-owner of SeatsAndChairs.com, has seen sales grow 1,500 percent in five years.

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You could say SeatsAndChairs.com sells home theater seats fit for a king, and you'd be right. The seats have been favored not only by royalty, but also by a general, an actor, "Saturday Night Live" set designers – and thousands of homeowners around the world.

The St. Petersburg, Fla.-based company has supplied home (or is that palace?) theater chairs to the royal family of Dubai. A decorator for Sylvester Stallone bought chairs for Stallone's house, and Gen. Tommy Franks, who makes his home in nearby Tampa, came to the showroom to purchase his.

One of the most exciting sales, though, was when set designers from "SNL" called on a Thursday and asked for 18 seats. They were building a set for that week's episode, which featured a skit poking fun at Star Wars fanatics who dress up as their favorite characters and go to the movies.

Movie fan
Co-owner Wil Kovacs enjoyed making that happen. He also likes meeting an occasional star himself. "I'm an avid movie fan," Kovacs says. "And it's fun going to the trade shows and seeing some of the actors."

The business was not always so exciting, however.

Kovacs and Charles Emmerson started the company in 2002 after meeting at a dinner party, where conversation turned to Emmerson's business installing seats in movie theaters. Sometimes, the process involved removing old chairs, Emmerson mentioned.

Kovacs asked: What happens to the old chairs?

Emmerson explained that most were destined for landfills but that some were salvageable. Emmerson and Kovacs made a deal: The next time Emmerson found chairs that could be saved, he would call Kovacs, who would try to sell them on eBay.

Emmerson soon contacted Kovacs. He had 100 chairs. Kovacs said he could sell them. About a month later, Emmerson rescued 200 more, all of which sold in about two weeks. "Then we knew we were on to something," Kovacs says. 

Global expansion
Now, SeatsAndChairs.com sells new chairs, too, manufactured in Michigan, China and Colombia. Most customers are homeowners, but the U.S. Coast Guard, nursing homes and apartment complexes also have bought chairs. The company exports to Canada, Australia, South America and Europe. Sales grew from $50,000 in 2002 to $1.5 million in 2007.

The company wouldn't have succeeded without UPS, Kovacs says. SeatsAndChairs.com uses several UPS solutions, including air, ocean and LTL (less-than-truckload) freight and UPS Ground. In the case of the "SNL" request to ship 18 chairs within 24 hours, UPS Next Day Air^® Freight was the answer.

"I called 'SNL' at 11 the next morning, and they were already installing the seats," Kovacs says.

It's not only special orders for which UPS provides reliable service. UPS Supply Chain Solutions^® manages the company's Asian supply chain, saving several days when importing from China. UPS Trade Direct^® Ocean also removes several days from the company's supply chain by delivering goods straight from China to customers' locations.

UPS WorldShip^®, an automated shipping system that lets Kovacs and Emmerson ship from their computer desktops, enables SeatsAndChairs.com to offer immediate quotes on products and shipping charges. It also provides important tracking ability, which has helped the company establish a reputation for reliability – a critical element of its success.

"When you're dealing with an Internet business, trust is a big thing," Kovacs says. "If we can tell customers it's shipping today and when they'll have it, they feel very comfortable."

There's no way the company would consider switching, Kovacs says. "There's no doubt about it – we couldn't have done it without UPS."

This story was originally published in the spring 2008 print edition of Compass.