Furniture shop's commitment to city

Daryl Bonis (left) and Owen O'Callaghan think the new site for Hunter Furniture in Owens Place, Mount Maunganui, is great because the area is becoming a furniture hub. Photo / John Borren

Christchurch-based Hunter Furniture has made a significant long-term commitment to the Bay by opening a 1400sq m showroom this month in Mount Maunganui's Owen's Place.

One third of the space has been devoted to a standalone La-Z-Boy gallery.

The US recliner brand's Australasian manufacturing and marketing licence had been held for 45 years by family-owned New Zealand company Morgan Furniture.

Morgan has a major distribution centre in Tauriko, employing about 20 people and La-Z-Boy furniture for New Zealand came through Tauranga.

There were now 32 La-Z-Boy galleries around New Zealand, of which five were dedicated stand-alone stores, the company said. Hunter currently had four of the five of the stand-alone galleries, as well as two in-store galleries devoted to the company's products.

Hunter chief executive Matt Roberts said the proliferation of La-Z-Boy's product range had delivered new potential to expand Hunter's offering and had a La-Z-Boy gallery in the Bay of Plenty region. "We will be very well-placed to offer Bay of Plenty customers a great choice of this world-class product."

Hunter northern regional manager Daryl Bonis would not disclose the amount of the investment in the leased property for reasons of commercial sensitivity, but said it represented a significant long-term investment into the area.

"Our business has grown and this region has a huge catchment area."

Hunter was now the biggest single distributor of La-Z-Boy products in New Zealand, largely because of its expansion throughout New Zealand, said Morgan's spokesman Paul Shanahan.

The Hunter store and La-Z-Boy gallery shared the same building with internal connecting doors, but were separately branded, he said. While the company still sold product into a wide range of furniture stores, the gallery concept - adopted from the US - was growing and now provided the bulk of sales in Australasia. "The model has worked very well for us," he said.

Hunter assistant manager Owen O'Callaghan said the Owen's Place location was chosen because it was developing into a furniture precinct.

Lower-cost retailer PK Furniture was expected to open nearby and a further 2000sq m space was available at the back of the Hunter shop, said Mr O'Callaghan.

"We are expecting to have a hub develop here for furniture retailers."

Mr Shanahan said until 2008 Morgan Furniture made La-Z-Boy furniture in New Zealand, but was forced to move to Thailand and China in order to remain competitive.

Much of the furniture - which now included tables, sofas and non-reclining chairs - was designed with local input in order to appeal to New Zealand tastes and houses, he said.

"But the recliner mechanism is still made by La-Z-Boy in the US because they offer a lifetime warranty on the spring," he said. "Even when they took manufacturing offshore, they wouldn't allow anyone else to make the mechanism."