When Annette Edna Mahu, co-owner of the Giraffe Ark Game Lodge embarked on furnishing the establishment, she sourced most of the furniture from Asia and the Middle East. She ended up saving money and got authentic items.

For the interior, she opted for Victorian-styled furniture which she got from Asia.

A number of homeowners nowadays prefer to import furniture, building materials and electronics cheaply from abroad as opposed to buying from local showrooms.

Most argue that one can ship in exquisite household items from abroad cheaply than when buying them locally.

A shop like The Odd Piece in Dubai has spectacular furniture that are designed with royalty in mind. Other shops in Dubai stock seats made of buffalo hide.

Gerald Maina who imported his seats from Dubai says he was looking for quality and unique items for his house.
“I chose to shop in Dubai because they have a variety of furniture pieces that are both unique and long lasting,” he says, adding that the quality of finishing in the furniture is also done professionally.

He says he did not mind paying more for shipping the unique furniture.

“Most of the local furniture companies also get their merchandise from these countries but they will go for more subtle designs and leave the finer, more sophisticated designs. They ship their products in pieces so as to assemble them here so as to save on shipping costs due to reduced container space,” he says.

How to import

Geldine Mbaabu, who moved back from Dubai recently after working there for two years, says she opted to ship in all her household items because it was cheaper.

“Most of the household furniture are good quality and you get them at reasonable prices compared to what we have here in Kenya,” she says, adding that she could have left them all behind and started anew, but the shipping charges and buying price were still lower than what she could have spent locally.

There a number of shipping agencies that bring in goods from US, UK, Dubai and China. Salihiya Cargo and Shipping Agency, one of the air and sea freight companies that provide logistics from Dubai to East Africa, says business is good, especially from those importing bulk items by sea from Dubai to Kenya.

“We ship thousands of cargo items by sea to Kenya, most of which are furniture pieces for clients every month,” says one of the shipping agents from the company who refused to be named.

Although clothes take a big chunk of cargo from Dubai and China, more Kenyans are also buying building materials, personal electronics and furniture.

(Source: businessdailyafrica.com)