Making it clear that the furniture industry was very much alive, the management of Pierce Furniture &?Furnishing Ltd have disclosed that they have penetrated the markets in Grenada and Trinidad and?Tobago.
Speaking at the launch of a new furniture line at Spring Garden Industrial Park last Wednesday evening, managing director Jackie Clarke-Pierce acknowledged that finance was an issue for her company but orders were coming from the spice isle and the land of the hummingbird.
“People are bashing Trinidad right now, but I can’t bash Trinidad. Last week I got a call from Trinidad asking for four container loads of furniture.
“Money is an issue for me so I have to negotiate with the company in Trinidad and hopefully, if I get a 50 per cent deposit, I wouldn’t have to approach any lending institution to finance it, and that’s the way to go.
“Trinidad is a market for me. I have stuff in Trinidad, and there are two other manufacturers that have stuff in Trinidad to do a house,” she said.
Pierce said she was excited about the prospects in Grenada.
“We did some work for Grenada last year at Port Louis. We were the first [people] involved in the Port Louis project. I would like to take my new line to all of the islands.”
Before an audience that included Minister of Small Business and Industry Denis Kellman, Pierce said she had dedicated the new line to her late husband and founder of the company, Anthony Pierce, who passed away last August.
The new collection, referred to as the Morditional line, is a combination of the traditional and the modern with Jackie forging links with her 22-year-old daughter Shenique.
“Its a new concept. It is catchy. We are blending tradition with the new. These are the modern times and my daughter is creative and innovative and has added much to the new line,” she said.
Pierce said her daughter’s role in the infusion and the support from her staff was proof that the youth had much to offer.
“We need to mix and [fuse]. We say that young people are not creative and not doing anything, but I say that this is the evidence.
“All of the signs at the plant have been done by my daughter. She just changed my business cards and if one looks carefully, you can see a marked difference.
“When we went to BMEX we had 500 of them and just 20 were left. My business cards were plain and old and she has changed that. We have got to embrace the young people and what they can bring to the table,” she said.
Shenique, who has graduated from the Barbados Community College with a Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, said she was delighted to raise the bar.
“I told my mom that I wanted to do something to transform the business and make it more attractive to other people. What I did was use the idea of tradition and modern, merge them together to give the whole idea of morditional.
“I have used bright fabrics instead of using flowers like people did in the old-time days. It is to attract a different market. Everyone is all about colour – instead of changing the entire house or wall, one can just change the fabric on the upholstery,” she said.
