The Long Journey to Your Living Room – Part 1
Every day from my condo, I see ships with large containers filled with all types of goods. We live on a beautiful island and one of our main ways of receiving goods is through shipments that travel the high seas! This is my 2-part series to give you a peek into the journey of our HomeWorld furniture to your home.
photo credit: http://www.hawaiibusiness.com
Our journey begins at a furniture market. HomeWorld furniture buyers attend markets in North Carolina, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and China to stay abreast with current and upcoming furniture trends. Their most recent buying trip this month was to China.
After 2 plane rides, one night sleep, and a taxi ride, HomeWorld Furniture Buyer Daphne Oliveros arrives at the Shenzen Bay border.
Up early to get a hardy breakfast for an exciting day at market! The China Export and Import Fair building can be seen in the distance.
Our buyers utilize public transportation to get to market!
Inside the subway car!
Outside the China Import and Export Fair building.
People travel from around the world to attend market!
After returning from the furniture market, our line up is reviewed, and a decision is made to bring in a new collection to our store. The HomeWorld Merchandising department then places an order with the factory and the manufacturing process can now begin!
Furniture collections seen at market are put up on a board during the final decision making process.
Manufacturing of furniture is all about timing the availability of raw materials with the scheduling of production. Several departments within a factory work diligently to ensure raw materials coincide with their production schedule. A few years ago, our HomeWorld buyer was very fortunate to visit a Natuzzi Italy factory! She was given a tour of Natuzzi’s facilities and also shown the leather making and furniture production process.
Leather being processed to become “wet blues.”
“Wet blues” being hung and prepped for the dying process.
Leather hides being trimmed and inspected.
Leather hides that have finished the dying process.
Hides being inspected and prepped for cutting.
Each leather hide is cut and sewn by hand. Individuals expertly place patterns to maximize the use of each leather hide.
Each frame is wrapped with foam by hand to ensure no sharp edges are exposed.
Leather being fitted onto the frame of a sofa.
Once furniture has completed production, it is wrapped or cartoned to ensure safety and quality. It then waits to be loaded on to a container to travel all the way to Hawaii!
The finished product ready for it’s journey to Hawaii!
Next week we’ll get to see what happens to HomeWorld’s furniture once it’s ready to be shipped!
About Taryn Kabei
When not working as the Digital Media Specialist for HomeWorld, Taryn, an avid foodie is always cooking and trying new recipes. Taryn lives with her husband, Kevin, and their cat, Keiko in Honolulu.
