MANILA, Philippines – For almost three decades now, a Filipino furniture manufacturing company has been wowing foreign audiences and buyers with its unique indigenous-designed furniture.
Its famous “Malabar” chair, a honey-toned rattan lounge wrapped around a wood frame, has so far sold more than 50,000 pieces and still counting and retails for $399. It is a top draw at Pottery Barn, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth, Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, and Bloomingdale’s, and has been adorning the homes of A-list clientele, including top singer Celine Dion who was shown sitted in the chair carrying her baby in the cover of People Magazine in 2001.
It also recently sold to Ralph Lauren an exclusive design for a Palembang urn, a huge egg-shaped metal frame with wicker weave, and trays with leather tags.
Calfurn Manufacturing Philippines Inc. or CalFurn is an Angeles, Pampanga-based furniture manufacture organized in 1976 under the stewardship of Eredito Feliciano and Angelo Baltazar.
It started with an original manpower of 20 workers and initially catered the needs of domestic buyers, particularly military personnel in the former Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base.
Today, CalFurn is one of the country’s most successful furniture exporters and trendsetters, serving foreign buyers from the US, Australia, Europe and Asia. It had at its peak 8,000 workers which has now settled to 2,000. About 80 percent of its exports are for the US.
The company has continuously explored using different kinds of indigenous but sustainable materials, in order to contribute to the country’s economic development and at the same time preserve the environment. To ensure availability of raw materials on a long-term basis, a sister company, AWECA Agro-Forest Industries Corp., was formed in 1992 to plant timber and non-timber species on a 5,000-hectare leased government property in Capas, Tarlac.
Company chairman Feliciano, in an interview, said they believe that wicker furniture and furnishings and other natural products are their best contribution to the furniture industry worldwide.
The company started with using rattan and has since then evolved into using other materials such as abaca, sea grass, rope weave. “The bark of the abaca used to be a waste material but we now use it to make furnitures. We also use different kinds of wood, including gmelina and mahogany,” Feliciano revealed.
Feliciano’s rode to fame and fortune is a different but equally inspiring story altogether. Working as a jeepney driver at the tender age of 12, he sustained his mother and eight siblings after his father passed away. After earning a degree as an accountant and becoming a licensed CPA, he founded at the age of 23 one of the leading export furniture companies in the Philippines. Among other recognitions, he was at one time chairman of the Philippine Exporters Foundation-Region 3.
His partner, company president Baltazar also had humble beginnings. Responsible for many of CalFurn’s imaginative and innovative furniture designs, he spends his time and effort doing research and development for the company now.
Feliciano was reminded of one time when an American serviceman based in the Philippines showed them a chair design from a magazine and asked that it be replicated with a few innovations. The chair was spotted by a buying agent of Macy’s and in 1980-1981, Calfurn got orders amounting to $1 million for that one chair.
In a bid to push the Philippine furniture industry to a higher level, CalFurn has introduced its products to cater to the domestic market. The CalFurn Premium Brands, Baltazar explained, lets one experience the classic ambiance of the A-list hotels in their very own homes. Using superior materials and distinctive designs, each piece is ageless. And its California units boast of the same craftsmanship and value for money, catering to the modern lifestyle of Filipinos.
CalFurn is slowly but surely on its way back to its homeland while retaining its efforts on its export market segments. “We are now cultivating the local market and we have everything that the market wants in customized furniture, whether modern, modular, contemporary, tradition or classic. Whatever the customer wants, we deliver,” Feliciano said. Right now, around 99 percent of the company’s product is for export.
Feliciano expressed optimism that the local market’s time has come to embrace world-class products.
An example of Calfurn’s customized furniture using indigenous materials can be seen in the Supreme Court, for which benches have been designed for use during en banc sessions.
CalFurn’s customized benches also adorn the Asian Hospital and a number of hotels in Metro Manila.
While most of its bulk orders, especially from abroad, are for indoor furniture, the company has also ventured into outdoor pieces using plastic materials (synthetic wicker), aluminum, or powder-coated metal frame.
At present, CalFurn is working with a number of real estate developers to adorn their showrooms as well as fully furnished condominium units.
Aside from customizing and mass producing furniture, Calfurn is also into home accessories.
Those interested in what Calfurn has to offer can visit their showroom and factory at Manga Road, Pulung Bato, Angeles City or they can visit www.calfurnph.com. The company can also be reached through telephone numbers 6345-3228215 and 6345-6366389.