About CFI
Industry Leader
Contract Furnishings International - part of the CFI Network of websites - is owned and operated by Contract Furnishings International, Inc.. Herewith called CFI.
Factory Direct
Commercial Furniture and Umbrellas
Factory Representatives
Made in America
High Quality - Competitive Prices
State of the Art Safety Features
We Ship Worldwide!
SDVOSB
• Theme parks, waterparks
• Restaurants, cafés
• Resorts, clubhouses & lobbies
• US Embassies, military bases
• Pool, patio, balcony furniture
• Park benches, picnic tables, trash bins, bike-racks
CFI's Business Mission
#1 - Excellent Customer Service
Our CFI sales staff is happy to answer any questions and provide free quotes.
We will mail hardcopy CFI Catalogs, color samples etc. upon request.
We offer ‘real solutions’ and free quotes custom-tailored to your own needs and concerns.
CFI makes your experience easy and rewarding with complete satisfaction for our customers.
CFI products will serve you well, long after the sale. We look forward to assisting you soon.
#2 - We are Your Source
Offering 'The Best' American-made 🇺🇸 Truly Commercial Grade ™ Outdoor Furniture and Umbrellas.
Competitive - Factory Direct - Wholesale prices.
We are Factory Representatives for a Select 'Group of 7' 🇺🇸 US Outdoor Furniture & Umbrella Factories.
#3 - Our Values
CFI strongly believes in "Made In America."
CFI is proud of its Group of 7 Major US Factories.
We support over 100 Factory jobs locally.
We support over 1000+ Other Jobs nationwide.
We give Honor and Thanks to God. Jeremiah 33:3
#4 - What We do
CFI provides high quality, commercial-grade outdoor furniture and shade.
Our products are safe (has modern safety-engineered specs), durable, functional, comfortable, and stylish.
Manufactured in state-of-the-art US manufacturing facilities.
We offer a wide variety of fabrics and frame colors to choose from.
We use 'Only the Best' American-made:
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Frames: 'Powder coated aluminum; poly coated steel.
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Resin Frames: recycled plastic +/or Marine Grade Polymer'.
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Stainless-steel hardware
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US virgin vinyl straps +/or sling-grade fabrics
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All US parts and materials
Joe's Story
Industry Leader Since 2000
CFI has been on the internet since January 2000 as Contract-Furnishings.com.
CFI Incorporated in January 2003.
CFI owner Joe Griffin has served the Outdoor Furniture Industry since 1982. More than 42 years.
He is a Vietnam-Era service-disabled veteran… Go Navy!
Joe has a lot of knowledge and experience in the Commercial Outdoor Furniture Industry.
After Joe's Honorable Medical Discharge from the US Navy in 1974, he became an associate manufacturer's representative for his father, Jesse at Fashion-Craft Mfg, selling upholstered interior furniture - sofas, sleepers, swivel rockers, recliners etc., to retail furniture stores along Florida's East Coast, from Vero Beach to Key West. Fashion-Craft Mfg went out of business in about 1980. Afterwards, Jesse and Joe both attended Manatee Community College for a year or so. Jesse went on to sell real estate. Joe found outdoor pool furniture.
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In 1982 Joe became a manufacturer's representative selling 'liquid polyurethane-coated' aluminum pool & patio furniture to retail furniture stores and commercial accounts, restrapping and refinishing, along Florida's West Coast, from Spring Hill to Orlando to Marco Island. (Fun Fact: We still work with the principals of that original patio furniture factory, in its current form, today.) Joe's first big commercial sale was to Busch Gardens theme park in Tampa, Florida in 1984. Busch Gardens 'inspired Joe.' 🙌🙌
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In 1996 Joe began going into business for himself - selling commercial outdoor furniture and umbrellas - to primarily commercial accounts.
Joe began to buy various lines direct, which did not please some of the principals he worked with at that time. In January 2000 Joe opened the first CFI (Contract Furnishings, Inc) website. CFI took off like a rocket. 🚀
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By 2005, Joe was 💯 in business for himself at age 50! In 2006, Joe brought Jesse, into CFI to 'consult' on wicker, rattan furniture and resin furniture. Jesse had health issues, traveled a lot, worked part time and retired completely in 2012.
Today CFI is a multimillion-dollar company with many commercial accounts, government accounts and a lot of HOA’s, waterparks, Municipalities, DoS - worldwide.
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All but a few of CFI's furniture products are 100% Made in the USA. Some of CFI's commercial outdoor furniture items - mostly resin sling chaises and resin sling folding chairs, are imported from Spain & France. And some of CFI's umbrella frames are made to our own unique specifications, in our co-owned factory in China. Our umbrella covers are made and installed in America.
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CFI was originally a patio furniture company. Over the years, CFI acquired more and more manufacturers and product lines.
By 2013 we were virtually a Full-Line Furniture Store with our own 24' delivery truck, which traveled all over Florida and occasionally beyond. We represented 17 factories and offered more than 10,000 items! It was difficult to manage all of that.
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In late 2019 I had premonitions. Due to various circumstances and concerns, in December of 2019 I took our CFI Truck off the road (and sold it to one of our factories.) A couple months later, the Covid Pandemic hit with a bang.
However, the Pandemic came just after we had arranged our orders in House, and had made substantial new 'Factory Direct Agreements.' We had no idea Covid was coming. But we were brilliantly prepared for it!
We give God all the honor and the glory. It was a major blessing for CFI, to be ready.
There were serious Supply Chain disruptions. Getting products was a real challenge for a while (not anymore.) Several key factories worked closely with us to fill every order. These factories became our CFI Group of 7. There are no Supply Chain concerns now. It’s all Good.
New CFI
We had already begun a Stern Review of our offerings and then we took out the surgical knife. We refocused on our Core Business....a ‘much narrower product line.’ We went back to our roots: Commercial Outdoor Furniture and Umbrellas, Including Site Furnishings: Picnic tables, benches, waste receptacles, etc., Made in America.
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Current Events
In May 2023 we were advised by our 'new landlords' that our rent amount would double at the end of our lease, November 30th, 2023. We had been at that location for 20 years. We said, 'no way' and began months of an increasingly frantic search for a suitable new location to purchase. We didn't want to rent again, certainly not at double the rate.
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Unfortunately our desire to be located in Sarasota, Florida, offered little commercial real estate inventory, so we had a difficult task to navigate. We chose our Pastor’s wife, Robin Weaver of Florida Style Realty, as our 'God's Team' real estate agent, on her very first commercial sale. In the end, we were led to an amazing property, built in 2005, that was not even on the market. Robin skillfully led us through expedited Buying/Selling & Closing in just 22 days, miraculous!
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We were also led to an amazing Management team; Dale & Lindsey Wanting of Prime Commercial, who enabled us to completely remodel the building and move in, beautifully, on time, and again, miraculous.
Joe bought the building sight unseen and owned it before we ever walked in the door. We remodeled the new CFI building from floors to ceilings, and created a comfortable new space ideal for our purposes. Our New Showroom features a 35’ x 10’ Caribbean Beach mural.
We have focused on: The Best of the Best.
You can find all of that, here:CFI's Best of the Best 2023-24
Thank you and best regards,
Joe Griffin President
2013 International Small Business Award Finalist, 2015 International Small Business Award Winner