Teak Lasts the Test of Time

By Barrie | August 26th, 2007 | No Comments

Despite the current popularity of plywood, vinyl and plastic furniture, for some people nothing beats natural wood.

Woodworkers in Pondok, Bambu, East Jakarta, have many years of experience of creating custom-made furniture in solid teak as the article in the Jakarta Post explains.

“The older teak furniture gets, the prettier it is. So I’m optimistic this business will go on,” said Syarifuddien, who has been in the industry for 14 years.

He did say, however, business was better before the 1997 economic crisis.

“The rupiah remains weak against other currencies,” Syarif, 31, said last week.

Ten years ago, US$1 was equivalent to about Rp 4,650 but now it is more than Rp 9,000.

Firda, 36, who was hanging out in her father’s shop quoted him as saying: “We sit more than we sell now”.

Firda said her father had started in the business 20 years ago, previously employing 20 workers. Now there are just three.

Syarif, the owner of furniture shop Alia Paris, said he had once had 17 staff but was down to five.

Keeping customers loyal is the important thing, he said.

“Honesty is the key. If we can make our customers trust us, they will return to buy our goods in three or four years time,” said Syarif, the eldest of eight siblings. His father had been a tire repairman before switching to woodwork in 1994.

“The customers’ relatives and neighbors will also come to us,” Syarif said.

“I like to tell customers right from the start that I only use teak from West Java and Lampung,” he said, adding that some woodworkers and salesmen lied about the wood’s origin.

Customer satisfaction, he said, was important. Therefore his furniture is hand-crafted to customers’ specific requirements.

“Whether it’s an antique, ethnic or minimalist look they are after, we are ready to make it.”

Syarif produces 90 percent of his furniture in his 360 square-meter showroom and workshop, while the bulk of the work on the remaining 10 percent is completed in Jepara, Central Java.

Teak is often rated according to its origin. The best teak is said to come from East and Central Java.

“It’s harder and more expensive to get materials from East Java,” Syarif said.

He cited as an example that a wardrobe made from teak from Lampung might cost Rp 2.3 million, while for a wardrobe made from teak from East Java a customer would be looking at paying more like Rp 10 million.

According to Ibu H. Abdullah, 51, who has been in the business for almost 30 years, prices range from Rp 500,000 per cubic meter for teak from Lampung to Rp 12 million per cubic meter for teak from East Java.

She said her loyal customers were from places outside Java, like Pontianak, West Kalimantan, as well as abroad, including Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

“All of them are traders who sell the furniture in their own countries,” she said.

However, Ibu Abdullah, who has a 1,000 square-meter showroom and more than 20 workers, declined to say how much the business made.

“The point is we never run out of customers. People keep coming to buy our furniture.”

Meanwhile, Syarif said his monthly sales ranged from Rp 65 million to over Rp 100 million, with about a Rp 6 million net profit.

Syarif said that at the beginning of every school year, the net profit would drop by half, while in the Muslim fasting month and before Christmas, it might increase by 40 percent.

There are more than 2,000 furniture traders in the East Jakarta Furniture Craft Center, which includes Pondok Bambu, Klender, Cipinang Muara, Duren Sawit and Penggilngan.

Abdullah and her husband, who started their business in Pondok Bambu in 1978, have five daughters — two of whom have graduated from university — and four foster children who are all university graduates.

“Thanks to this furniture business,” she said proudly.

She said that to support the furniture business, traders should be producing the goods themselves besides buying half-finished products from Jepara.