Growing demand for locally-made high-end furniture

Jun 01, 2014 News

---

– How one company has taken the market by storm

Guyana’s sprawling expanse and its vast abundance of natural resources is a dream for investors,

especially those from the developed countries. Its logging potential, gold, and farming possibilities have long been known. But the country is still to really get down to the real business of ensuring its raw materials are converted into finished products.
While there has been some success, like in the case of Barama and it plywood, there is still much work to be done. There has been criticisms that too much of the country’s resources are being exported without the benefits really being felt.
But one local company has been making significant strides in adding value, in a big way.
Today, Guy America Furniture, a Parika-headquartered business, has literally taken over the high-end furniture market in the country, with diplomats, businessmen and politicians all flocking the showrooms at Mandela Avenue and at Zeeburg.
And it is all built with local woods that have been kiln-dried.
According to businessman, Mohamed Alli, his company has not had time to think about exporting, as demand locally has been almost overwhelming.
“We can barely keep up with demand and we are not even thinking of that now.”
The businessman indeed knows what he is talking about. His businesses have over 150 employees and the market has been spreading from Bartica, Region Seven, to Crabwood Creek, East Berbice.
Guy America has been a fixture on the GuyExpo and Housing Expo scene for a while now, with his pieces being the centre of attention.
The kitchen cabinets, wooden doors and shutters, tables, beds and closets, have all been featured prominently by magazines and on television.
Alli, 58, known popularly as ‘Brother’, disclosed that he stumbled on making furniture almost by accident in the 1980s.
“A customer of mine sawmill owed me and he was migrating. He was involved in making

furniture. He offered me his equipment to pay off his debts.”
Alli, who studied at York University, Canada, before returning in the late 1970s, took the equipment and placed it at his sawmilling operations in Parika. As a hobby, he used the odds and ends of the mill to fashion a few pieces, including wardrobe and vanity. He decided to put it up for sale. That was in the late 1980s. The pieces were quickly bought.
Alli immediately threw his energies behind furniture-making and soon became the biggest furniture maker on the West Coast of Demerara.
He was not afraid to get his hands dirty.
The businessman, in the sawmilling business for over three decades now, literally grew up in commerce. His father was the biggest grocer in the West Demerara area. His grandfathers were businessmen.
The eldest brother of six children, he returned from studies in Canada and helped his father in the Leonora grocery business for awhile before getting married. His father-in-law was a sawmiller in Wakenaam, an island in the Essequibo River.
A Parika sawmill, run by the Hack family, went on the market in the mid-1980s.
For the young Alli, it was an opportunity, never mind the fact that it was uncharted territory.
With his father-in-law by his side, within six months, the businessman managed to open the

sawmill, quickly putting into the operations the idle machines. But there was a problem. Parika had a number of sawmills. Almost all of them were doing poorly, because of no logs.
“The sawmills in the ‘80s were buying the materials from loggers. But the loggers were complaining of getting too little money for their labour and of being robbed also.”
The businessman held a meeting with the logger. He paid them more and in return got them to guarantee a steady supply. In less than a year, the sawmill flew past the others, some of which even ending up buying from Alli.
“I believe that if we treat people, especially the ones we do business with, with respect, it helps.”
Alli, hungry for knowledge, linked up with Canadians, with a number of volunteers coming to lend their technical expertise.
Realising that his business stood at risk from an unstable supply of logs, Alli applied for State concession of forested lands. Today, his company has around 36,000 acres.
But the sawmiller was not resting easy. Realising that if he wanted to build quality furniture that his wood would have to be treated differently, he invested in two kilns, the oven that dries the wood.
“Yes, high-end furniture are quality ones that have to adhere to certain standards. The process to prepare it does not come cheap.”
Today, with a ready market, in especially Berbice, the sawmiller believes that he has no competition for high-end, locally-made furniture.
“People are spending millions for their homes. They want quality furniture and are willing to pay for something that is locally made and of high quality. That is what we produce.”
However, the biggest sell for Guy America may be its outdoor furniture. Built with specially treated wood, the chairs and tables are popular choices for a number of hotels and even restaurants.
“I believe that we have some of the most beautiful materials in the world, right here in Guyana. People are beginning to understand that we can produce quality products and that is what we are focusing on.”
This year, again, Guy America is participating in the GuyExpo and Housing Expo and is expected to once more be among the most visited of booths.

---

---