The big apple meets the big easy: a Louisiana acquisition helps Long Island City-based AMPF Inc. expand distribution

Art Business News, Feb, 2004 by Elizabeth Butler

During a year when a tough economy convinced many manufacturers to reign in their expenses, AMPF Inc. of Long Island City, N.Y., spent 2003 making room for new products.

Last year, the nine-year-old company acquired a mid-size importer and distributor in the South, which grew AMPF's moulding count by more than one-third and expanded its distribution to include special glass and matboard.

The company began the process in August when it acquired Zinsel Company Inc., headquartered in a 60,000-square-foot warehouse in Metairie, La., just outside of New Orleans. Zinsel came prepackaged with a second, smaller distribution operation located in Greensboro, N.C.

Along with a Louisiana presence, Zinsel brought about 700 frames to the AMPF table. Zinsel General Manager Mark Rusck said about 600 of those lines will stay on the shelves in 2004. Like many of AMPF's imports, Zinsel's frames came from designers in family-run factories overseas.

The company also changed its stance on low-margin commodities such as glass and mats. Since just about everybody sells these items, AMPF used to let its customers buy them from other suppliers, said Richard Lorenzotti, operations manager of the New York factory and son of company owner Justo Lorenzotti. But AMPF has found itself in the glass-and-mat business by default since Zinsel already sold glass and mats when Justo Lorenzotti bought it.

Rusck said AMPF would only sell a few value-added pieces such as UV glass and acid-flee mats for archival flaming. Zinsel will continue to offer a full range of glass and 3,000 styles of matboard.

AMPF sells about 1,800 mouldings imported from Italy, Spain and Taiwan. Justo Lorenzotti travels to the foreign factories to work with designers and create unique frames that become proprietary to AMPF. The factory in New York houses most of the moulding back stock.

If a customer places an order by 5 p.m., AMPF promises to ship it that day. And with two more distributors in the network, it will be even easier for the company to make quick deliveries, Richard Lorenzotti said.

Humble Beginnings

AMPF didn't start out as diversified as it is today. Owner Justo Lorenzotti originally started in the frame business with AMPF's sister company, AMCI Ltd, in 1981. Still selling strong today, AMCI became known for its hand-carved, hand-crafted 22-karat gold leaf frames. They are finished-corner pieces that take three or four weeks to produce at the Long Island City factory.

High-end art galleries and museums buy the finished corner AMCI pieces, said Arpy Minasian, an AMPF saleswoman in New York. "That group of people will always be there. It's a limited market, but it's a good market."

AMCI offers about 85 mouldings and various corner finishings for the custom frames.

"The more labor we do, the more we charge," Minasian said. "It's cheaper to import than to pay labor." One sample costs $113 per foot wholesale, and a 16- by 20-inch frame uses seven or eight feet of moulding.

The Midas Touch

Minasian said Justo Lorenzotti has a Midas touch in the industry because he continuously grows his company to fit the changing needs of the customers. After establishing a niche base with AMCI, Justo Lorenzotti moved into the chop business with AMPF.

Because its roots came from expensive custom frames of AMCI, AMPF sells primarily mid- and high-quality frames. Artcraft is one of the lines AMPF launched to capture more of the moderately priced market. It's a metal leaf finish on poplar wood that creates an antiqued look. The frame doesn't have gesso so it doesn't chip during cutting.

"This line [is] fantastic," Minasian said. In the factory, workers apply metal leaf the same way they apply 22-karat gold, so the new line didn't require new training.

Minasian said AMPF continues to watch out for new furniture interior design styles to keep up with industry trends and offer new product lines.

A Time to Grow

Armed with three distribution sites, a wide price range of wooden frames, a selection of metal Nielsen frames and its own glass and mat offerings, AMPF wants to grow its market share.

Richard Lorenzotti said the company aims to build or acquire distribution centers on the West Coast and in the Northeast. He would not disclose which cities AMPF wants to call home.

In south Louisiana, the newest member of AMPF's fold is trying to keep up with its new growth.

"For us to have done this on our own, it would've taken a lifetime," said Mark Rusck, general manager of Zinsel's Metairie location. Where Zinsel had been adding 20 or 30 new mouldings a year, the onset of AMPF added more than 2,000 new items overnight.

After the August acquisition, Zinsel changed its name to AMPF Zinsel. With sales of about $9 million in 2003, Zinsel's revenue should more than double in 2004, Rusck said. The warehouse in Louisiana generated about $7 million of those sales.

With AMPF's product lines to offer, Zinsel can stock a retail store's entire inventory. Big markets for the company include the Atlantic seaboard and the South.

AMPF Inc. at a Glance