- Published on Tuesday, 23 October 2012 19:16
- Written by Roderick L. Abad / Photos by Andrea Sambar
OWNING
a house is a laborious achievement. Equally so is the construction of a
new abode or redoing what’s already been acquired. Luckily, homeowners
have a trusted partner in Mandaue Foam.
For 40 years, this
Cebu-grown company has enabled Filipino families to fill their houses
with dreamy home furnishings. From simple bedding products to home
accessories and state-of-the-art furniture, customers can have
everything they need to build the home of their fancy, as well as
impeccable service and design consultancy.
What started as a
startup business that manufactured foam four decades ago, Mandaue Foam
Industries Inc. (Mandaue Foam) has metamorphosed into a big player in
its field that is now one of the country’s top 1,000 corporations. True
to its commitment to provide clients with quality and value-for-money
products, it has now gained the stature of being the “go-to” home-store
for everyone.
The tremendous success
of Mandaue Foam all began when entrepreneur Rosita Uy started making
foam in Cebu in 1971, with just a starting capital of P100,000. This, in
turn, led to the opening of her first store on February 25, 1972.
“We manufactured
polyurethane foam for [the] upholstery needs of furniture exporters and
the growing population of Cebu. At that time, our focus was the
wholesale of foam for distributors and exporters who would come to us.
Foam distributors would send production orders, and the foam would be
produced and we delivered it to their distribution partners,” recalled
architect Rodrigo M. Galagar, production manager of polyurethane foam of
Mandaue Foam.
Seeing the need for a
complete home store, Mandaue Foam expanded outside of Cebu. A showroom
in Davao came into being in 1981. Alongside its branch expansion,
product lines were also diversified to include pillows, dining tables
and bed frames, among others. Spring bed became a regular fixture in
1984. Signature items were also offered such as Flex Foam and Hotel
Quality Gala Bed Mattress.
Refusing to rest on
its laurels, the company opened two more outlets—one in Pava, Iloilo,
and another in General Santos City in August 1998. One
year later, Mandaue Foam introduced sofas in November 1999. The turn of
the century then saw the mushrooming of more outlets within the Visayas
and Mindanao regions, particularly in Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Davao,
Iloilo, Butuan and General Santos City.
Mandaue Foam started
to import furniture items from China, Malaysia and Indonesia, and sold
them locally in 2003. But this did not stop them from continuing to
promote Filipino craftsmanship in their showrooms. The company put up
its own wood-working factory in July 2005 to manufacture furniture made
out of mahogany from Mindanao.
Following the success
of its business in the Visayas and Mindanao areas, it then set its
sights on Manila and the Luzon region. A showroom was inaugurated in
Cainta, Rizal, in 2007, and two more outlets were opened—one on Quezon
Avenue in 2009 and another in Las Piñas in 2010.
To date, Mandaue Foam
has 18 showrooms strategically located in key areas of the Philippines.
All these stores carry a wide array of home and bed products,
entertainment units, office tables, curtain accessories, carpets,
lightings, as well as foam and packaging needs of both the fishery and
export sectors.
Keeping in mind the
customers with a unique taste for the design of their homes, Mandaue
Foam has now transformed into a complete “one-stop shop” that offers
easy solutions by allowing patrons to customize their home furniture.
“We want to be part of
our customers’ dream home, so we give them the freedom of modifying our
pieces to match their style,” Mandaue Foam managing director Ryan Uy
said. “We’re able to tailor our all sofas, mattresses and wooden
furniture to their specific liking. Simply choose a design, fabric
material and tell us the specifications. We’ll take care of the rest.”
To provide
professional design consultation services to customers, who may want to
have their furniture custom-made, in-house interior designers are always
available to provide assistance.
“[When designing] we
concentrate more on the functions. For example, condos and apartments
are existing everywhere, so we would like to be in their homes. We check
on the practical side. First, we consider the price, the space and then
the design,” explained Melvin Nemenio, interior designer and head of
PRD Department (Wood Furniture) of Mandaue Foam.
From manufacturing and
wholesaling, Mandaue Foam has quickly evolved and ventured into
retailing. This, eventually, has allowed the foam manufacturer to cater
to the needs of homes, hotels, hospitals, furniture exporters and even
corporate offices, thus, successfully capturing 20 percent of the foam
and furniture market at present.
Now celebrating 40
fruitful years of helping Filipino families beautify their homes,
Mandaue Foam continues to think forward and innovate, guided by the
entrepreneurial spirit of its founder and competent skills of its
people, to provide every Juan comfortable living he deserves.
In Photo:
This modern living room set up in Mandaue Foam’s showroom features an
L-shaped sofa accentuated with floral-printed throw pillows perfectly
matched with the paintings on the wall. On the side, the flamboyant,
tall Christmas tree ornamented with red and gold balls and ribbons lends
a Christmassy appeal.
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