A few years back, Scott Neal found himself in an unfulfilling career that was not making him happy. While that may be a feeling shared by many, he actually had the courage to do something about it, and decided to open Fibrenew West Central Jersey—the local franchise of a national leader in leather, plastic and vinyl restoration.

Fibrenew’s services can help both residential and commercial customers save time and money in a number of different arenas, including repairing and restoring damaged furniture. Every time Neal finishes a job and sees a wide-eyed look of amazement on the face of a homeowner, he knows his career change was a wise choice.

“When somebody has wear on their sofa, until they know that we exist, they think they just have to live with it or go buy a new piece of furniture,” he says. “When they call us and realize we can help, typically our repairs get them an 85 to 90 percent improvement. In the thousands of jobs Fibrenew has completed, the response is always, ‘Wow.’ I can’t remember the last time a customer was not impressed.”

The transformation is often jaw-dropping. Thanks to Fibrenew’s expertise in color matching, the restored cushion is sure to flow with the rest of the couch or an accompanying piece such as a leg rest.

“If somebody buys a high-quality piece of furniture, our services are for them,” Neal says. “If there’s some wear in a couple of areas on the sofa, it’s way more cost-effective to have us repair it than to buy new furniture.”

Fibrenew can fix leather or vinyl couches, love seats, recliners and chairs that are worn, ripped or faded. Other common issues it can address are pet damage, broken reclining mechanisms, bent frames or indentations in the arm of the furniture—all problems that people with young children or pets know all too well.

Convenience is also a major benefit. If Neal is given enough quality photographs of the damaged furniture, he can provide an estimate over the phone. Fibrenew then comes to the customer’s home and can usually complete the repair there, sometimes in as quick as an hour. For more complex jobs, the furniture is taken to the company’s workshop, with free pickup and dropoff services.

When they are in a client’s home, Neal and his staff make it a point to be respectful and courteous. They have even been known to grab a vacuum and clean up the often-neglected area behind the couch they are working on.

“We go above and beyond because customer service is very important,” Neal says. “We want to make sure people feel comfortable with us in their homes. We’re always friendly, smiling and on time. We also know in this current environment that we need to be extremely conscientious about keeping our customers safe by wearing masks and gloves, disinfecting all things we touch and maintaining the proper social distance.”

Fibrenew is an eco-friendly company that not only uses water-based products safe for people and the environment, but prevents large furniture pieces that still have years of use in them from taking up space in a landfill.

Neal also has the support of a larger company with 250 locations across the United States, with all of the owners sharing their knowledge in the field. “That gives us a lot of backing, a lot of research and a lot of new products arising all the time,” he says. “Every year, we have new things we can use to be more efficient.”

In addition to furniture, a large segment of Fibrenew’s work is focused on automobiles, including restoring worn areas in leather and vinyl seats, replacing foam in the seats, plastic repair on the dashboard or door panels, and restoration of center consoles and steering wheels.

It also does work on seating and plastic molding in boats, as well as plastic window frames for condo associations or apartment complexes. Finally, a growing market—especially following the COVID-19 pandemic—is the repair of vinyl tables in the medical, chiropractic, dental and physical therapy fields.

“Any time you’re sanitizing with alcohol or bleach, you’re deteriorating the surface of whatever you’re cleaning and eventually it starts cracking,” Neal says. “You’ve probably been at a doctor’s office and the table you sit on has cracks or is starting to peel. Doctors, by law, have to repair that, because bacteria builds up in the cracks and crevices and it’s impossible to clean it properly. We do both repairs and reupholster in the medical field, and in restaurants as well. The booths at restaurants have cracks in them all the time.”

Clearly, Fibrenew can offer its services across the board, and Neal believes he can save clients from headaches in the long run.

“Everybody has either leather, vinyl or plastic in their possession—everybody,” he says. “If they own a car, live in a house or own a business, we are happy to help.”

Fibrenew West Central Jersey
(908) 797-5420
Fibrenew.com/west-central-jersey

Published (and copyrighted) in House & Home, (May 2020). 
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