HISTORY

Hal Alden founded Brentwood Originals with a showroom on Robertson Blvd in Los Angeles circa 1958. He began selling decorative pillows and quilted bedspreads. Soon thereafter he brought in Mel Rosenthal who would be his EVP of Sales for the next forty years. Hal began as an importer from day one, importing first from Japan which was the low cost supplier at the time. Visits overseas were long and challenging with the trip itself taking several days hop scotching across the Pacific Ocean. As India became the primary base of manufacturing, the travel and circumstances became even more difficult and complex. Frequently staying for weeks or months at a time, negotiations over pricing became intense affairs of one upmanship and waiting for the other to blink. Often times Hal would walk out of negotiations and get into a cab for the airport in order to close a deal. These were days long in advance of "containers", super freighters, frequent shipping schedules and all the manifestation of modern day importing that we all take for granted.



Nixon's 1972 visit to China resulted in the US receiving 50 business visas, most of which went unused until Hal Alden acquired one, and as a result, Brentwood has been importing from China since 1973. As Brentwood grew Hal & Mel added additional capacity and new facilities and built a nationwide distribution system encompassing three facilities totaling over a million square feet of manufacturing space. In 2008 Brentwood celebrated its 50th anniversary, a true milestone in a rapidly contracting home furnishings industry here in the US. We are today a privately held company and we own most of our facilities.

Today Brentwood Originals, still largely a decorative pillow supplier, also makes and ships window treatments, throws, chairpads and a wide variety of outdoor UV resistant pillows, cushions and pads. Brentwood services all major retailers from its three distribution centers in Carson, CA., Youngstown, OH., and Walls, MS.