The phrase “American-made” gets used so freely in commercial furniture that it’s almost lost its weight. A sticker on the back of a frame doesn’t say very much about how the frame was assembled, where the lumber was sourced, or what happens when the booth goes into ten years of service in a high-turnover restaurant.
What we mean when we say it
Every Sims booth starts with kiln-dried hardwood at the stress points. Not plywood. Not particle board. The difference matters because plywood and particle board fail under sustained shear load, which is exactly the load profile of a commercial booth that gets sat in through every lunch and dinner rush, year after year.
We assemble the frames with resin-coated staples plus reinforcing corner blocks. The staples bond to the wood as they’re driven; the blocks distribute load across the joint. The seat deck rides on sinuous-wire springs sized to the booth length and the duty cycle of the venue.
Where the upholstery comes in
A frame is the part of the booth no one ever sees. The upholstery is the part everyone sees and touches. Our upholsterers have spent decades working with commercial vinyls, bleach-cleanable performance fabrics, and the long-pile velvets that are coming back into fine-dining specifications.
The work happens by hand. Channels are pulled tight one at a time. Tufting buttons are set individually. Cap-strip seams are aligned so they read continuous across a long banquette. None of that is automated; none of it can be.
Why it shows up on your P&L
A booth that lasts 20 years instead of 8 has a measurable effect on capex amortization. A booth that takes a service call instead of a full-piece replacement keeps a dining room open through dinner service. A booth whose finish coordinates cleanly across booths, table bases, ottomans, dividers, and trash receptacles keeps the design intact a decade after the soft open.
That’s what American-made means, when it’s done by a manufacturer that’s been doing it since 1977.
Published by The Sims Family. Last updated September 14, 2025.
