Lovesac is not just another furniture retailer or brand of bland designs. Each Lovesac product is a legitimate furniture invention, with patents to prove it. The “Sacs” that made Lovesac famous, put simply, are massively oversized bean bags filled with chopped Durafoam instead of styrene beads and come with a two-lifetime guarantee never to go flat or break. The Durafoam is made from recycled new sofa foam tailings and is far more comfortable and resilient than beanbag beans – more like a gigantic pillow than a stiff beanbag.
In 2005, Lovesac’s entrepreneurial founder, Shawn David Nelson, gained national notoriety by being chosen from 50,000 applicants to compete on Fox Network’s 2005 reality TV hit, The Rebel Billionaire, starring Richard Branson. Branson was looking for a Billionaire in the rough. 11 episodes and 16 contestants later, Shawn won $1,000,000 on national TV and was briefly appointed President of Virgin Worldwide.
After consolidating, reorganizing, and relocating to Stamford, Connecticut, in 2006, Lovesac has since opened dozens of stores across the US, closed a few along the way through various reorganizations and strategic shifts, and has about 50 retail locations open today. All of them are company-owned stores, having ceased franchising operations by 2008. Moving to the East Coast was a big step for Shawn and an even bigger step for Lovesac. Shawn continues today as chairman and works day-to-day inside as chief design officer. He met his new business partners, the now CEO, Nancy Shalek, and CFO, Ryan Johnson, and together they have built out an entirely new and sophisticated management team. From Lovesac HQ to the hundreds of Sacs on the front lines, Lovesac maintains that despite Lovesac’s various patents and resources, its greatest asset is its people and its friends (customers).
Lovesac’s latest invention, the Nationals, is a cross between upholstery and Legos. With lifetime guaranteed wood frames upholstered in foam and fabric, Sactionals consist of 2 simple pieces, Bases and Sides, that can be combined in any quantity in any configuration imaginable to build any furniture desired—no tools necessary. Chairs, sofas, chaises, ottomans, and, of course, limitless sectionals are possible using only these two pieces. Sectional pieces’ patented dimensional relationship allows for this uncanny and limitless modularity, where, even in strange configurations, like the Twister, the Play Pen, or the Guest Rest, all of the pieces line up perfectly and snap together with ease using the simple, patented hardware included. Sactionals are reasonably priced. A Sectional sofa (two Bases with four Sides—where Sides act as the back pieces also, and Bases include the seat and back cushions) retails for as little as $1,400 in Khaki. With any one of the wide array of designer covers added, furniture shoppers may choose to pay $2,500+ for the same sofa. Covers come ready to take home in many fabrics, from microfiber to cotton twill, with hundreds of other fabric choices available in just a few weeks by custom order. Lovesac, like its products, is a one-of-a-kind company—destined to become a truly legendary brand someday. They now have 50+ retail stores throughout the US and are growing rapidly.
