They say time flies when you’re having fun —or in this case when you are crafting custom real wood furniture.
This year, we celebrated two decades of Homewood, and what better way to mark the occasion than with a few words from Ian Perry, the man who turned a humble idea into handcrafted history? Take a walk down memory lane with us as we remember the past 20 years of Homewood.
20 Years – A reflection
Much to my mother’s disgust – I don’t have a sentimental bone in my body. When it comes to birthdays, anniversaries or religious celebrations I really don’t partake very enthusiastically, and honestly often forget about them.
Fortunately – the Homewood marketing department really do seem to like celebrating birthdays. So, when Homewood turned 20 years old this November — they laid out and planned a whole bunch of festivities, give aways, specials and a new branding video with tons of cool footage. (If you’ve yet to have a watch, check it out here.)
As part of this process, I (very reluctantly) got involved with interviews, filming, planning and content reviews, and it was then that the nostalgia set in.
Nostalgia is an evil thing for the young — especially if the older and experienced begin waffling on with the lines – “I remember when”, so, just to punish the youth reading this – here is my nostalgic trip down memory lane.
Here are most memorable moments from the past 20 years, in timescale order:
Nov 2004: We bought our first hobbyist machinery, and I started playing around in my garage workshop.
Dec 2004: We bought our first load of hardwood logs abandoned in a hardware yard – which turned out to be very valuable Panga Panga from Mozambique – BIG Score!
Jan 2005: I was still looking for a single customer but continued to make stock. At this point, the neighbours were getting irritated with the noise made by the now blunting blades on the thickness planer.
Mar 2005: A spanner was thrown in the works when we were handed a demand to cease operation or find a new location. As we still had no customers or income – we couldn’t help but think “Has the Homewood dream already come to an end?”
Apr to Nov 2005: A busy period spending money and not earning. Our first customer and first order come in, so we found a new workshop and set up in Pietermaritzburg. Our first employees were trained, our first items delivered to a happy customer and the first declaration from everyone who knew me, (except my wife) to call it a day and find a real job…
Jan to Apr 2006: Hardship and desperation breed character and really tests how badly you want something to succeed. We finally find our first supply into a retail outlet in KZN. Now we are going to fly!
Balance of 2006: We are NOT flying… turns out you need to supply more than one retail outlet to sell enough furniture just to cover costs, so the search to find more markets in Gauteng begins – maybe they will buy from us?
Start of 2007: Sales volumes are picking up and Homewood is supplying a few outlets in Gauteng and KZN. We need more people, and we need to invest in more machines, but we need more orders before we can do this. Banks laugh and turn us down, the words, “you are insolvent” and “sorry we cannot give you a loan” are repetitive at this point.
Mid 2007: Residential properties began to boom in value. Hey, I own a property – maybe I can extend my current bond so I can buy more machines and employ more people? Great success! Our new machines are delivered, new staff is hired and trained, things are looking up!
End 2007: Well now we need more sales to ensure I don’t lose my house. This was when our first marketing strategy was developed with our initial branding, brochures and catalogue.
2008: The year we attend our first trade show and win best newcomer! We get some positive orders and leads – expanding our market. Kiaat, Iroko and Oak are introduced as wood options, and we direct our focus on production and quality control.
2009: The realisation that we need a larger factory sets in, so we find the right place in Tweedie Howick and make the move. It is here that our first chair is designed and produced.
2010: We on-board a new investor! Using the funds to rebrand and develop the Homewood brand as we know it today and start negotiations to supply our first major retail chain.
2011: The neighbouring factory almost burns down; we’ve avoided a catastrophe by the skin of our teeth. The lease is cancelled on our current property and so we move out to our current site in Lidgetton. A new building and a new start.
2012: Our first major supply agreement is concluded — now the pressure is on, can we deliver? I start a night shift to cope with the volume, and finally, pay myself my first salary!
2013: A great start to the year as we bring in a new investor and shareholder, investing in more machinery and a building expansion but the wheels soon fall off. Our biggest customer folds… We have just lost 80% of our market! I then decide to hire an admin manager — may as well go all in, and Ouma Christine is still with us today!
2014: We shift the focus to marketing to find other retailers to stock our furniture, but volumes just aren’t coming in. For the first time, we have to retrench staff and reduce production capacity. We need to change our marketing strategy – we need to get into retail ourselves. Our first retail outlet in Kramerville Gauteng is open for business. A huge investment – a big gamble – will it pay off? We hire our first production manager – a lightie with absolutely no experience – but he has enthusiasm. Wes is also still with us!
2015: Retail is not for sissies! Orders are picking up but not quick enough. We juggle plenty of sales staff, find the right systems, learn a lot of lessons and open our next retail outlet at Piggly Wiggly KZN. Overheads are getting heavy – we need to make this work, and so our smalls line begins.
2016: We hire our first marketing manager and develop our first fully-Homewood furniture range – say hello to the IMBIZA range. We open the Umhlanga retail outlet and add weaving to our product offer to start replacing traditional upholstery.
2017: Homewood opens a Lynwood retail outlet – as well as Waterfall and we introduce Ash and Plantation Teak as wood options.
2018: A year of trade shows, winning best stand awards and trying very hard to make showrooms profitable. At the end of the year, we close the Waterfall store with plenty of lessons learnt.
2019: We start the year with a new store in Nelspruit and launch the Duzu and Khumbula range. 2019 brought some great commercial contracts into lodges – hey this is a good market – lets focus on this! Homewood gets to work with Nandos, Avocado Vision and the Working for Water programme to find a market for alien invasive tree biomass harvested in Fiksburg. We test Cottonwood tables and chairs in a Nandos Casa in JHB… (I was very sceptical and a wood snob).
Begin 2020: *Cough *cough … Covid lockdown – we are screwed! We beg, borrow and just short of steal to manage to pay staff and debtors during lock down. We push overdraft to max and manage to secure a covid loan. Now we can produce but no wood imports are coming in. We pivot, let’s support local and develop the Amanzi Conscience Collection. How hard can it be? All we have to do is set up an entire supply chain from our waterways, to sawmills, and finally to us – but it can only be alien invasive wood species, and they have to rehabilitate the areas where the aliens are removed. I was bored anyway – so let’s take up an impossible challenge, and let’s see if we can pull it off.
End 2020: Homewood sells the Amanzi Conscience Collection concept to MRP Home to see if we can collaborate on a range to use the volume of these invasive species. They said yes! Climb aboard the rollercoaster – now we are going for a real ride!
Begin 2021: We develop and launch the Kotini range for MRP Home (Which is currently still one of their bestselling ranges) and roll out this concept to our showrooms and other customers. We have now stopped importing wood – converting to the new wood supply chain!
End 2021: The alien invasive story is a huge success, with record sales in our showrooms that we cannot keep up with demand! The next step? Invest in the factory and expand by 40%.
2022: We close the Nelspruit showroom but start developing new ranges and supplying other major furniture retailers. Our alien invasive initiative remains strong and growing, and we aim to be completely supplied by alien invasive woods by the end of the year and remove all imported woods from our offerings.
2023: We expand our MRP Home and other retailer ranges, finding a market in lodges and hospitality as tourism starts to recover and grow. Homewood introduces new wood like Sugar/Spotted gum into our custom real wood furniture manufacturing.
2024: We change the production line to help cope with higher volume orders and introduce a new night shift. The installation of a huge solar system to take us off grid means we are no longer left in the dark, and I think that in doing so we single handedly solved the load shedding issue for the rest of the country! Additionally, we were able to reduce our lead time by 20% in 2024.
The Future: Keep grounded, expand our offering of alien invasive wood types, and ensure we set up a value chain that will do good and not harm. Finally, to remain focused on our four pillars that have brought us to this point: Crafting real wood furniture with local hands, making furniture to order and offer custom solutions, sourcing local alien invasive biomass, and to never compromise quality over lead time.
Well, here we are, 20 years later—still standing, still crafting, and still convincing people that handcrafted beats flat-packed every time. We have built something truly remarkable, and we couldn’t have done it without you. You’ve helped us turn Homewood into something worth celebrating. Here’s to more sawdust, more memories, and hopefully fewer “character-building” moments.
