Alfresco Home's casual furnishings and accents will help independent retailers bring together their interior decorating and outdoor living products. Entrepreneur Joseph Cilio is leveraging his experience in the home and garden market to launch a new line of fresh and original interior and exterior home and garden accents.

Offering a wide selection of fashionable products, from casual furniture and garden lighting to permanent botanicals and seasonal decor, the new Alfresco Home casual living products help retailers offer a complete line of interior and exterior living offerings, expand sales into all four seasons and increasing repeat traffic.

"You see the lines between indoor and outdoor blurring," says Cilio. "The trend today is about blending interior and exterior decor, connecting the inside with the outdoors and enjoying the lifestyle of alfresco living."

Cilio says Alfresco Home grew out of the need to help retailers further develop these concepts by expanding their casual home decor offerings with some great products at a great value. Alfresco Home offers the elements that make the outside more comfortable and stylish. "My sense and first hand experience is that people want the outside to be an extension of their home in a comfortable, stylish and relaxed atmosphere," he says. "We want to step outside the home and get a sense we are still in it. Or we want to move the outside in and make us feel we are still outside, even though it is January."

Calling on more than 17 years in marketing and sales with Campania International, Cilio is designing some of the products himself as well as working directly with companies in Europe and Asia for quality indoor-outdoor home décor products that offer a great price point. Cilio is developing product lines that work together to complete the outdoor-indoor living experience.

"The beauty of the Alfresco Home concept is that it allows retailers to expand sales into all four seasons," he says. "Patio furniture sells in February and July whereas permanent botanicals are great for all season, especially holidays." Cilio says Alfresco Home, which he describes as a "boutique" design and distribution company, was created to make it easier for garden centers, casual furniture stores, and home decor retailers to fulfill the expanding needs of today’s consumers. Based on his experience, Cilio saw a need for a single source for home décor products that work both inside and outside the home. "We’ll do the leg work, search for or design the quality products at a good value and then bring the best of the best to the garden centers," he explains. "This way, buyers can come to Alfresco Home for one-stop shopping, eliminating the need to specialize in dozens of different product lines to expand their current offerings."

Cilio says that adding some chic home décor pieces breathes new life to the traditional plant store and gives customers a reason to skip going to the big box stores. "To keep the customers from going to Lowes, independents need to be more like an ‘outdoor living boutique’ where customers can find a good value and buy unique products or gifts for the home, pick up something hip to use when entertaining, and, of course, find great plants."

Alfresco Home's retail partners are benefiting from the new indoor-outdoor enthusiasm, which leads to return visits of both loyal and new customers in the fall and holiday season as they search for more products for the home and for gifts. "I personally am thrilled about the new possibilities Alfresco Home can bring to retailers throughout the county."