By Kylie Brunelli
American Leisure Patio is a family-run business that’s been serving Santa Cruz for over 40 years. Run by the Freiberg family, mainly son Brett Freiberg, it’s a core establishment within the community.
Brett Freiberg at American Leisure Patio
For context, American Leisure Patio is the store on Ocean Street with the giant red Adirondack chair resting above the store entrance.
American Leisure Patio specializes in good-quality furniture that’s still low-priced. Unlike mega corporations (Ikea, Home Depot, etc.), American Leisure Patio furniture is less likely to instantly break, and it’s already assembled, which reduces the likelihood of construction error. They also do many customized operations to fulfill the visions of their clients.
The sun is the largest cause for furniture regression.
American Leisure Patio already offers durable pieces, but Brett says that if you “take care of it, it’s going to last a long time,” more than the five-year warranty American Leisure Patio offers. “If you sit on your outdoor furniture with suntan oil, and you don’t clean it, the sun will eventually bake in the oils and burn the fabric.”
Sun damage is a constant threat, and Brett recommends cleaning and covering furniture. He often sees properly maintained furniture last 10 to 15 years.
A wall full of color options.
The company started in 1972 when his parents, Fred and Kathi, were inspired by the concept of the trendy PVC pipe furniture, and they opened a PVC pipe furniture manufacturing factory, Pipe-Made Furniture West, near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
PVC pipe is a classic material for outdoor furniture, especially in Santa Cruz, because it’s both durable with coastal weather and budget-friendly. As the PVC trend gradually declined, the business expanded to accommodate a larger furniture variety.
Brett still works with his parents. He and Mrs. Freiberg curate amenities while Mr. Freiberg refurbishes old furniture. It’s better for the planet, and it gives them an edge up over competitors. It also continues the design-construction duo from the earlier Pipe-Made Furniture West era.
Notably, weather is a big factor in the outdoor furniture business world — bringing both immediate and seasonal effects. Brett says that people come shopping on hot sunny days, and not when it’s rainy or dreary.
As a result, over the course of the overcast winter, business is slow, while it booms during the summer. To accommodate the fluctuation, they double the staff during the high season. Brett remarked that they “are busy sourcing and curating furniture for the upcoming season” during the colder months.
Pieces are curated by Brett and his mom, Kathi.
Remarkably, during COVID although they initially lost money — since the store was closed for seven weeks — business rebounded tremendously. They re-opened with the Memorial Day Sale of 2020, which was really successful.
“Business during those years increased by 50%,” Brett recalls, “because everybody was staying home. They wanted comfortable, nice outdoor environments where they felt safe.”
Although business eventually leveled out, the influx gave American Leisure Patio an increased budget for upgrades.
Right before COVID, in 2019, they upgraded their San Jose store, which was initially opened in 1980. Brett stated that it’s “beautiful over there.” It was originally created to expand the business to Silicon Valley to meet the need for quality outdoor furniture.
Since then, Brett has found many customers visit both stores because there’s sometimes “a different collection in one store than the other,” and therefore more variety.
Both stores have many trending pieces. Lately, Brett’s seen popularity with “clean, simple lines.” For instance, aluminum frames — or even furnishings made entirely of metal.
It’s also fashionable to have moderate colors for the base pieces with pops of color in extra decorative touches. For example, a chair with a brown frame, a beige cushion, and a turquoise pillow. Brett says they sell “about 50 different colors and throw pillows” to accommodate many customer styles.
To stay up-to-date, Brett and his mom travel to Las Vegas, Chicago, and overseas every year to find the best pieces for the shop. He says, “We constantly analyze what is selling and what isn’t, so we know what to keep and when to move on.”
So when considering repairing or upgrading patio furniture, you’re in safe hands with American Leisure Patio.
•••
1118 Ocean St., Santa Cruz • 944 Blossom Hill Rd., San Jose
SC: 831-423-2425 • SJ: 408-446-9350
americanleisurepatio.com