Carved Furniture Business Mushrooms as traditional restaurants emerge
Abel Mulugeta was showing his traditional furniture, which he made from carving wood, to his visitors on December 16 when Fortune visited his shop at Urael, just on the left side of the Bole road. A young man of 29, had 19 chairs on display that he made in his small workshop at the back of his small shop by the side of a hardly business friendly road although he sees some passerby visitors.
Abel started making furniture from bamboo; with an initial capital of 20,000 Br.Then he turned his attention to making wooden furniture by carving different designs of the old buildings of the Fasiledes castles, the Lalibela rock-hewn churches and the Axum obelisks. He has now hired one worker to handle the bamboo section, while he focuses on the wood.
"I have been making such furniture since I was a very young boy and I make them with pleasure. They are also my source of income," he said.
He makes household furniture like chairs and tables as well as wall decorations. He also makes full sets of modern sofas with a touch of traditional flavour.
Making all these, he sells the chairs for 900 Br to 1,000 Br per piece and a full set of chairs and a table for 25,000 Br. The sofa sets sell for 35,000 Br to 40,000 Br. The price is increasing from time to time because of the rising cost of wood, he said; demand is also on the rise because of the increasing number of cafes and restaurants that use traditional furnishing.
These furniture makers rely on wanza (Cordia Africana) wood, which they get from distributors in Merkato. The wood he uses costs him from 350 Br to 400 Br and the thin ones for the front legs which are of 4m long chairs sell for 50 Br to 75 Br. The slimmer ones for the back leg sell for 25 Br to 30 Br.
"Not more than three years ago, I sold the chairs for 500 Br or less, but I used to sell only few chairs," recalled Abel.
"The prices are increasing from time-to-time as the wood we use for the making of the materials we produce is becoming expensive and the demand for the products is growing lately because of the increasing number of cultural cafes and restaurants in the city," explains Abel.
When Tizazu Kore, the owner of Yod Abyssinia Cultural Restaurant, bought the furniture for his cultural eatery, 11 years ago, the price was 750 Br for a long leg chair and 500 Br for a short leg chair. He paid 1,250 Br for the tables.
Now Abel sells 15 to 20 chairs a month, which almost triples to 45 to 50 chairs a month during holidays, he says. Buyers for household use of such furniture are far smaller than buyers for cafes and restaurants, and they buy mostly stools.
One such woman was visiting Abel's shop when Fortune visited on December 16, 2014. He showed her a photo album of bamboo and wood products with different designs both made of bamboo and timber.
"The timber is better than the bamboo as the bamboo will be affected by insects in the long-run," suggested Abel.
The woman moved on to explore further at the other shops. One of these, Axum Enterprise, was established three years ago by three aspiring young men. One of them, Zelalem Wolde, was carving a design on a circular back of a chair.
"I have been in this business for eight years five of which were spent as an employee in a private woodwork," he said.
Most of that time he was employed in a similar shop, until he decided to start his own business with his two friends. These friends make not only chairs and tables, but also beds, cabinets and chest of drawers, all bearing traditional marks.
The design choices, however, remain practically the same from shop to shop. They are nearly all the Axum obelisks, the Lalibela rock hewn churches, the pictures of saints, and Fasiledes' castles.Tizazu is well aware of this design shortage.
"You will not find traditional dancers' design in the shops that produce these products; so you need to provide them with a design that you prefer your furniture to bear," says Tizazu. "Before I buy the products, I look at the model and give them a green light for the continuation if I like it."
The way they do the carving is rudimentary, which could include overlaying a picture on the wood and tracing the contours by their carving knives. They also etch the sketch of the pictures while looking at the originals. They also make designs that their customers come up with but they charge them, depending on the complexity of the designs.
"The presence of these furniture makers is important for the development of the tradition and traditional restaurants," Tizazu says.
It is not only in design of the carvings they make that these furniture makers lack; Zelalem also complains of a market that is slow except during holidays because of poor promotion. These shops, located on Ghana Street between Urael Church and Atlas Hotel, find themselves high on the road side, with a narrow walkway for pedestrians and poorly visible to those driving by. That and the shortage of display space make business difficult, says Abel.
"Our market is good only during holiday seasons as we have no market promotion. The market during other times is not as significant as it ought to be," said Abel.
But they are all optimistic in the future of business, believing that demand by traditionally themed cafes and restaurants is increasing.
Abel Mulugeta was showing his traditional furniture, which he made from carving wood, to his visitors on December 16 when Fortune visited his shop at Urael, just on the left side of the Bole road. A young man of 29, had 19 chairs on display that he made in his small workshop at the back of his small shop by the side of a hardly business friendly road although he sees some passerby visitors.
Abel started making furniture from bamboo; with an initial capital of 20,000 Br.Then he turned his attention to making wooden furniture by carving different designs of the old buildings of the Fasiledes castles, the Lalibela rock-hewn churches and the Axum obelisks. He has now hired one worker to handle the bamboo section, while he focuses on the wood.
"I have been making such furniture since I was a very young boy and I make them with pleasure. They are also my source of income," he said.
He makes household furniture like chairs and tables as well as wall decorations. He also makes full sets of modern sofas with a touch of traditional flavour.
Making all these, he sells the chairs for 900 Br to 1,000 Br per piece and a full set of chairs and a table for 25,000 Br. The sofa sets sell for 35,000 Br to 40,000 Br. The price is increasing from time to time because of the rising cost of wood, he said; demand is also on the rise because of the increasing number of cafes and restaurants that use traditional furnishing.
These furniture makers rely on wanza (Cordia Africana) wood, which they get from distributors in Merkato. The wood he uses costs him from 350 Br to 400 Br and the thin ones for the front legs which are of 4m long chairs sell for 50 Br to 75 Br. The slimmer ones for the back leg sell for 25 Br to 30 Br.
"Not more than three years ago, I sold the chairs for 500 Br or less, but I used to sell only few chairs," recalled Abel.
"The prices are increasing from time-to-time as the wood we use for the making of the materials we produce is becoming expensive and the demand for the products is growing lately because of the increasing number of cultural cafes and restaurants in the city," explains Abel.
When Tizazu Kore, the owner of Yod Abyssinia Cultural Restaurant, bought the furniture for his cultural eatery, 11 years ago, the price was 750 Br for a long leg chair and 500 Br for a short leg chair. He paid 1,250 Br for the tables.
Now Abel sells 15 to 20 chairs a month, which almost triples to 45 to 50 chairs a month during holidays, he says. Buyers for household use of such furniture are far smaller than buyers for cafes and restaurants, and they buy mostly stools.
One such woman was visiting Abel's shop when Fortune visited on December 16, 2014. He showed her a photo album of bamboo and wood products with different designs both made of bamboo and timber.
"The timber is better than the bamboo as the bamboo will be affected by insects in the long-run," suggested Abel.
The woman moved on to explore further at the other shops. One of these, Axum Enterprise, was established three years ago by three aspiring young men. One of them, Zelalem Wolde, was carving a design on a circular back of a chair.
"I have been in this business for eight years five of which were spent as an employee in a private woodwork," he said.
Most of that time he was employed in a similar shop, until he decided to start his own business with his two friends. These friends make not only chairs and tables, but also beds, cabinets and chest of drawers, all bearing traditional marks.
The design choices, however, remain practically the same from shop to shop. They are nearly all the Axum obelisks, the Lalibela rock hewn churches, the pictures of saints, and Fasiledes' castles.Tizazu is well aware of this design shortage.
"You will not find traditional dancers' design in the shops that produce these products; so you need to provide them with a design that you prefer your furniture to bear," says Tizazu. "Before I buy the products, I look at the model and give them a green light for the continuation if I like it."
The way they do the carving is rudimentary, which could include overlaying a picture on the wood and tracing the contours by their carving knives. They also etch the sketch of the pictures while looking at the originals. They also make designs that their customers come up with but they charge them, depending on the complexity of the designs.
"The presence of these furniture makers is important for the development of the tradition and traditional restaurants," Tizazu says.
It is not only in design of the carvings they make that these furniture makers lack; Zelalem also complains of a market that is slow except during holidays because of poor promotion. These shops, located on Ghana Street between Urael Church and Atlas Hotel, find themselves high on the road side, with a narrow walkway for pedestrians and poorly visible to those driving by. That and the shortage of display space make business difficult, says Abel.
"Our market is good only during holiday seasons as we have no market promotion. The market during other times is not as significant as it ought to be," said Abel.
But they are all optimistic in the future of business, believing that demand by traditionally themed cafes and restaurants is increasing.
