Tweaking its image to satisfy the challenge of customer demand

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Oriental General Store is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. It began as a hardware store under Parsan’s father, Haresh Ram Parsan. Afterwards, the company began buying and selling furniture. Parsan says the objective of the exercise was to offer “affordable yet durable furniture” to the local market. “Pricing is always a challenge when you are in the business of value- added products,” Parsan says.

Three years ago, the eldest Parsan sought to strengthen his hold on the furniture industry by investing in Semakiah Woodworking. Situated at Hague on the West Bank Demerara, Semakiah’s aim was to facilitate control over the production process in order to strengthen Oriental’s hold on both cost and designs.

Semakiah has thrown up other challenges. Parsan says that while the company continues to recruit skilled joiners to work in the Hague factory, the growth and development of the furniture industry depends equally on the creative imagination of the joiners. He explains that the varied design demands of consumers continue to challenge the abilities of the producers.

Oriental General Store, Parsan says, continues to be preoccupied with bridg- ing the gap between affordable prices and high quality. “We want to do things the old-fashioned way. We want furniture to last from one generation to another. We are, however, finding it more and more of a challenge to do so.”

In the period ahead, Parsan says, Oriental General Store will be eyeing diversification, seeking to respond to customer demand by offering a new range of household items that complement the range of furniture currently on offer. Diversification, he says, is a response to the challenge of competition and an imperative that can help to further grow the image of a brand that has already secured a worthwhile reputation.

As regards seeking out an overseas market, Parsan says that in his opinion that has to come in time. “In my opinion we’re not quite ready for that.” He believes that there are still challenges associated with producing in the volumes necessary to sustain overseas market. “Apart from that we need to examine issues of cost and competition,” Parsan says.