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Product Magazines: Product Trends |
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Vol. 1, 2004
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Product Features |
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Something Old, Something New
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Actin Trading Ltd has been operating for more than 20 years, supplying middle- to high-end furniture and furnishing products |
CREATIVE designer screens, sleek Italian-style sofas and antique-finish wooden cabinets are just some of the huge array of quality, competitively-priced furnishings available from skilled Hong Kong manufacturers.
Taking a unique and innovative design stance is Visual Arts Atelier Ltd, whose core product is a range of 70-80 high quality original design screens in highly artistic, modern styles.
About 100 workers at its 60,000-square-foot factory in Zhongshan on the Chinese mainland produce up to 300 screens per month in anything from 2-8 panel designs.
"Visual Arts Atelier is a new company which evolved from a three-dimension projects background, saw an opportunity in the interiors market and went for it," says Fannie Wong, company founder and managing director.
"As an interior item, screens offer great flexibility for creative design and we incorporate lots of different materials such as timber, iron, rope and fabric, which we source worldwide to create our highly original designs."
Visual Arts' creative director is well-known Hong Kong designer Vico Wong, who oversees a dedicated team of local designers producing such collections as Moebius, a range of screens inspired by organic forms and created by weaving black rope onto a twisted, sculpted iron framework.
"These can be used as screens or decorative sculptures," explains Wong. "We use many interesting techniques such as weaving Swarovski crystals into the design, or mounting oil paintings and faux fur on our screens."
The company's major market is the US, followed by Europe and Australia. Prices are available on request and the company's minimum order is 50 sets, delivered 60 days after order confirmation.
Also favouring modern design is 11-year-old Kingwood Int'l Enterprises Ltd, which specialises in wooden furniture in veneer and solid timber and provides interior design services to the domestic and hotel/commercial projects markets.
Some 700 workers at the company's 600,000-square-foot factory in Dongguan on the mainland produce 300-500 pieces per month, with products ranging from beds and wardrobes to dressers, drawers and desks.
"Around 50% of our business is domestic, through furniture retail outlets, and 50% is project work," says business development manager Maggie Siu.
Kingwood manufactures its own-brand furniture under the ESMA label as well as undertaking OEM and ODM, explains Siu.
"Our company also operates three ELM casa retail shops in Hong Kong, which serve as excellent venues to showcase our wide product range," she adds.
Siu says the neat, sophisticated lines of Kingwood furniture reflect the Italian design style. "Currently, the trend is for wooden furniture combined with metal, and designs are clean and crisp," she notes, adding "the colour trend is white".
One particular area of growth for the company is the manufacture of quality showcases for international brands using its ESMA product line.
Kingwood sources fancy plywood such as cherry, walnut, beech and maple from Europe for its products, which are available for minimum orders of one TEU with delivery 4-6 weeks after order confirmation.
The US accounts for 40% of the company's business, and Japan, Europe, the mainland and Hong Kong are other important markets. "The mainland shows lots of potential for future growth," believes Siu.
Taking a more traditional approach to design is Foochow Lacquer Ware & Furniture Ltd, a 22-year-old veteran of hand-painted, antique-finish furniture and porcelain.
With past customer names including the likes of Neiman Marcus, there remains a strong demand for classic European and Chinese antique-style designs, particularly in the US, says company manager Betty Cheung.
Approximately 300 workers produce a wide range of MDF lacquer-finish furniture such as traditional screens, chairs, tables, television stands and boxes, at the company's new 300,000-square-foot factory in Hongshan, Guangdong Province.
"The US is our biggest market with 80% of our business and this market continues to grow," explains Cheung. "Our screens, chairs and tray tables are particularly popular there."
Europe is also important for exports and the Middle East is a new market for the company, she adds. The company has no minimum order requirement and delivery is 45-50 days after order confirmation. Prices are available on request.
Spanning a spectrum of styles, from modern to antique, is 12-year-old metal and metal-cum-wood furniture and ceramics company P & C Enterprises (HK) Ltd. "We expanded from ceramics to home accent furniture to cater to the growing demand for interior dˇcor," says managing director Paul Au. "Now our business is half furniture and half ceramics." Some 800 workers produce more than 20,000 sets of furniture a month at the company's 16,000-square-foot factory in Dongguan.
"We manufacture a wide range of home accent furniture such as cocktail cabinets, side and occasional tables, racks and lampstands, using traditional and designer styles," explains Au. "Our own-brand is Pascada Cino and we also produce for OEM."
The US is the company's major market with 70% of business and Europe accounts for 30%. "We focus on these key markets and while style demands are similar - patina and the antique look are still very popular in both - the US goes for bigger-sized furniture than Europe," notes Au.
"The most popular items at present are cast-iron furniture as the mould is difficult to duplicate." Minimum order size is one TEU, delivered 45 days after order confirmation and prices are available on request.
Whatever the demand, variety remains the cornerstone of Hong Kong's furniture offerings, which satisfy buyers' cravings for the old, the new, and the absolutely unique.
WRITTEN BY SANDRA JENNER
Contact details
Actin Trading Ltd
G/F, 710 Prince Edward Rd East
San Po Kong, Kowloon
Hong Kong
Tel: 852-2321-8868
Fax: 852-2354-9995
Email: info@actin.com.hk
Web: www.actin.com.hk
Foochow Lacquer Ware & Furniture Ltd
28/F, Blk L, Shield Industrial Centre
84-92 Chai Wan Kok St
Tsuen Wan, New Territories
Hong Kong
Tel: 852-2498-0491
Fax: 852-2411-3298
Email: sales@foochow.com.hk
Kingwood Int'l Enterprises Ltd
13/F, Taurus Bldg
21A/B Granville Rd
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Hong Kong
Tel: 852-2191-2830
Fax: 852-2191-2829
Email: info@kingwood.com.hk
Web: www.elmcasa.com.hk
Kiu Fai Trading Co
Rm 25, 21/F, Well Fung Ind Centre
68 Ta Chuen Ping St
Kwai Chung, New Territories
Hong Kong
Tel: 852-2421-7868
Fax: 852-2410-8530
Email: kiufai@szchina.net
Web: www.kiufai.com
P & C Enterprises (HK) Ltd
Flat E, 24/F, Sun Ying Ind Centre
9 Tin Wan Close
Tin Wan, Aberdeen
Hong Kong
Tel: 852-2814-8180
Fax: 852-2873-0891
Email: pcentltd@netvigator.com
Web: www.p-n-c.com
Visual Arts Atelier Ltd
Rms 603-5, Tung Wah Mansion
199 Hennessy Rd
Wan Chai
Hong Kong
Tel: 852-2877-0377
Fax: 852-2598-4009
Email: info@visualartsatelier.com
Web: www.visualartsatelier.com
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