Fortitude fuels furniture firm to face uncertain future

Malabar chairs. Celine Dion. Craftsmanship. All these point to one medium-sized enterprise north of the country's capital: Calfurn.

- By JASPER EMMANUEL ARCALAS

This Pampanga-based manufacturing firm has become synonymous with world-class Philippine furniture found in American homes. Today, the 49-year-old Calfurn Manufacturing Philippines Inc. finds itself weaving through a tangled trade situation caused by US President Donald Trump's tariffs.

"Some of our customers have already asked for discounts since [furniture] demand has been slow because of the soft US housing market exacerbated by the tariff uncertainties," Paolo Feliciano, vice chairman of Calfurn, told The STAR.

In April, Trump announced the imposition of reciprocal tariffs on all of the US' trade partners to fix their trade imbalances. For the Philippines, it was 17 percent. Two months later, it became 20 percent. A week ago, it was reduced to 19 percent.

For a company like Calfurn that ships out 95 percent of its products to the US, the numbers meant more: unquantifiable consequences.

Household name

Founded in 1976, Calfurn found its niche in manufacturing furniture and furnishings made out of indigenous, sustainable and locally sourced natural materials. At the turn of the third millennium, Calfurn was at its A-game, having sealed million-dollar deals to supply the US market with its products—from chairs, desks to sofas and beds.

It sold over 50,000 of its famous Malabar chairs across American stores like Pottery Barn, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth, Neiman Marcus, Macy's and Bloomingdale's. Celine Dion also had one of those.

Feliciano, now 45, has seen through the storied journey of Calfurn. At just nine years old, he was exposed to the ins and outs of the business. Weaving and various parts of the production process were his summer classes.