About DefySupply
Minneapolis-based DefySupply has discovered the key to offering the lowest furniture prices to customers all over the U.S. and the world: deal directly with the manufacturer. A Web-based e-commerce firm, DefySupply offers deep discounts on dining tables, leisure chairs, office workstations, bedroom sets, and chandeliers, by arranging for Chinese furniture companies to ship directly to customers. For a small monthly or annual membership fee, Defy Supply customers gain access to the most competitive prices in the world. Any time a customer can show the company a lower price for a listed item, DefySupply honors it.
Founder Brent Gensler first visited China as a teen in search of new sources of fabrics for the upholstery business his family operated. He laid the foundations for Defy Supply during summer internships with an international real estate firm, which sent him to Hong Kong and Shanghai while a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After obtaining his business degree, he launched DefySupply in 2008. He also opened a warehouse in China and hired a staff of eight before the year was out.
The simplicity of the firm’s business model has created astounding growth for DefySupply, which grossed $720,000 in its first 12 months and more than $2.5 million in 2009. Revenues for 2010 topped $3.5 million. Similarly, the company’s product lines grew from bar stools, sofas, and patio furniture from five suppliers in 2008 to more than 4,600 items, many from the 45 suppliers with whom DefySupply deals in China.
In 2011, DefySupply hit upon another simple idea: why not make it easy for the Chinese customer to purchase through DefySupply's network as well? The rapidly expanding middle class in a nation with a total population of 1.3 billion comprises the largest new market on the planet. Without the shipping costs, Chinese buyers will likely pay a third less for furniture purchased through DefySupply than U.S. consumers.
Founder Brent Gensler first visited China as a teen in search of new sources of fabrics for the upholstery business his family operated. He laid the foundations for Defy Supply during summer internships with an international real estate firm, which sent him to Hong Kong and Shanghai while a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After obtaining his business degree, he launched DefySupply in 2008. He also opened a warehouse in China and hired a staff of eight before the year was out.
The simplicity of the firm’s business model has created astounding growth for DefySupply, which grossed $720,000 in its first 12 months and more than $2.5 million in 2009. Revenues for 2010 topped $3.5 million. Similarly, the company’s product lines grew from bar stools, sofas, and patio furniture from five suppliers in 2008 to more than 4,600 items, many from the 45 suppliers with whom DefySupply deals in China.
In 2011, DefySupply hit upon another simple idea: why not make it easy for the Chinese customer to purchase through DefySupply's network as well? The rapidly expanding middle class in a nation with a total population of 1.3 billion comprises the largest new market on the planet. Without the shipping costs, Chinese buyers will likely pay a third less for furniture purchased through DefySupply than U.S. consumers.
