Living the 'Buy Jamaican' credo

A staffer assembles a mattress at Boss Furniture workshop	A quality sofa crafted by the excellent workers at Boss Furniture Company

Barbara Ellington, Snr. Hospitality Jamaica Writer

FOR 13 years, Boss Furniture Company Limited, located at 112c Church Street in the heart of downtown Kingston, has manufactured quality furniture for sale to wholesale markets in Jamaica and the Caribbean. The company, which began by manufacturing wooden furniture, later ventured into bedding and this now accounts for 60 per cent of their sales.

But what Directors Omar, Emile and Dominic Azan are proudest of is the fact that they are staunch supporters of the 'Buy Jamaican, Build Jamaica' campaign, and through diligence and consistent high quality, many large and small hotels now purchase all bedding, sofas and other soft furnishings from them.

The family-owned business also has the mother of the three siblings, Paula Azan, as a director and equal partner. But directly in the driver's seat are: Emile Azan, director of operations; Omar Azan, director of marketing and purchasing as well as deputy chairman of the Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA); and Dominic Azan, director of production and design.

Boss Furniture Company holds the local licence for the America-based Simmonds bedding manufacturers, and through that partnership, training is provided both overseas and here in Jamaica, for the staff.

"We sell furniture to companies such as Courts Jamaica Limited and to the hotel chains Sandals and SuperClubs as well as Jamaica Grande, Sunset Beach

and many others. We are very proud of that achievement because this is a very competitive business; it was very tough getting in as several overseas countries usually submit bids for the same contracts," Emile Azan said.

QUICK TURNAROUND

The service offered by Boss Furniture to the hospitality sector is a blessing because, whereas imported items have to come in containers that can take months to reach their final destination, the locally manufactured items have a maximum of three weeks from order to delivery.

"Bedding has a 24-hour turnaround; we will sell our clients from one bed upwards and our staffers know how important that is," Omar Azan said, pointing out that in peak production times they have 200 persons on the job, but with the busy season now off, the number is down to 165.

Boss Furniture Company also services and repairs the products they manufacture.

The brothers have high praise for their workers who do an excellent job in all the departments.

"They learn fast and are among the best anywhere and they are living proof that products manufactured in Jamaica are among the finest quality in the world," Mr. Azan said proudly.

On a quick tour of the factory floor, Hospitality Jamaica found a buzz of activity, from lumber being cut and frames for chairs and sofas being constructed, to making various grades of mattresses and upholstering. The completed sofas for a major hotel chain are carefully wrapped in cellophane and stacked for delivery. And less than a block up the road is more activity. This is where some special orders for sofas are taken care of.

PROOF OF SUCCESS

Back at the Church Street entrance to the complex, the lobby area and offices are filled with trophies, certificates and other tangible proof of Boss' tried and tested products. For the immediate future, Boss Furniture Company intends to go the route of manufacturing its own raw materials, starting with polyethylene, a vital component of the foam used for bedding, pillows and mattresses.