Indomata offers ecologically friendly line
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, January 17, 2005
San Diego — It's "green," but does green really matter to furniture consumers?
Chad Rosen hopes it does as he builds retail accounts for a line of upholstery and case goods made from ecologically friendly materials like water hyacinth and reclaimed teak.
Rosen's company, Indomata, offers some 40 SKUs imported from Thailand to furniture dealers and to consumers in his retail space in downtown San Diego, three blocks from Horton Plaza.
The soon-to-expand collection features hyacinths woven into sofa and chair frames, headboards, drawer fronts and side panels, and for decorative effects on tables, mirrors and other pieces. Indomata also uses palm fiber, sugar palm and rubberwood, all sustainable materials. Sofas start at $2,200 retail.
The company offers the romance of teak recycled from abandoned dwellings and hyacinths pulled from clogged waterways but, Rosen said, "We don't push it in people's faces but say this is another attribute to our product that really lends itself to being unique and different, and you can be a part of it if you like."
Since few, if any, furniture stores have a "green" section, he emphasizes the collection's style — contemporary with stainless steel accents — and quality, and leaves the environmental pitch to his dealers.
Fresh out of college with a business degree, Rosen started Indomata three years ago after a trip to Indonesia to surf and look around. He was intrigued by the people, and believed some of the product could find a market in the United States.
To achieve stability, he has moved production to Thailand. The Thai factory produces for three major U.S. companies and is professional and reliable, he said. Rosen's business partner is Clinton Blume, a college friend.
Rosen says Indomata's furniture has a "youthful aura," and the 26-year-old entrepreneur thought the collection would attract consumers who were young, professional and upwardly mobile. But he's been surprised that it's the older set that's apparently been captivated by the furniture's organic, exotic, somewhat outdoorsy look.
"People who are older are really getting into this Asia fusion type of thing," he said.
Indomata's headquarters here is in the city's historic Gaslamp section, in a loft-like setting in an area known for its funky, cutting-edge stores and restaurants. The showroom is cherry red on the outside with black pillars inside, plus an overhead platform that hangs by cables and a fire pole.
The store displays the work of local artists, rotated monthly. Indomata also manages a showroom shared with Pacific Green in Los Angeles, where it has a warehouse.
But the showroom is a sideline to display the collection and to provide office space, according to Rosen.
"Retail is not what we want to get into," he said. "It's slowed us down in some dimensions. We don't want to blur the lines at all trying to create a retail experience. But we have, in a circuitous way, created a great retail atmosphere."
Rosen said the company is moving toward significant accounts on the East Coast, and has good prospects for future growth.
"People are really perking up to the fact that it's a product that can really move," he said. "Right now, things are really good."
