Monday, October 8, 2012

Dutchmans Furniture opens its third store, in Mooresville

Dutchmans Furniture has opened its third store, in the Merinos complex in Mooresville, offering eclectic, custom-made and high-end furniture.

The company also has locations in Highland, N.C. and St. Simons, Georgia. Stephanie Nieuwendijk, a New Zealander raised in Australia, is the owner and designer of much of the furniture.

More from the store's press release: Shoppers who enjoy "classic with a twist" style will like Nieuwendijk's designs for her new label, Bloom. Bloom features repurposed items, including light fixtures made from woks, planters made from tires, and rustic metal tabletops made from tin roofs.

Other offerings at Dutchmans include hand-painted furniture from Steven Shell and upholstery, sofas and chairs from Rowe Furniture and Robin Bruce. 

The Bramble, Bloom and Steven Shell lines are all produced at The Bramble Company's production facility in Indonesia, giving shoppers the ability to customize their purchases by color and style. The furniture is crafted, painted and screen printed all by hand.

Nieuwendijk opened her first store in Highlands in 2000, after coming to America with $450. "Our goal is for people to get real enjoyment from their furniture and to create rooms they love to be in," she said.


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6 comments:

freddy said...

The furniture is produced in Indonesia? Most likely by kids paid pennies a day so they can avoid paying Americans a decent wage. Why would anyone patronize this store, as it provides no American jobs? Why is this news?

Farthington M. Pennypacker said...

Like most other consumer, very little furniture is made in America anymore. Most of us drive this behavior by searching for the lowest prices. No one can live out a consistent philosophy of "Buy American." The fact that you own a computer and most likely a cell phone, and certainly clothing and shoes, mean that you support foreign manufacturing. Even an "American made" car contains parts from overseas or may be assembled in Mexico or Canada, while Toyotas and Hondas and BMWs...are made in American factories. It's a global economy now that can't be put back in the bag. What companies are finding out is that quality issues and rising transportation costs makes onshoring more attractive for some manufacturing which is bringing some, but not many, jobs back to the U.S.

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Jack said...

@Farthington

There is still furniture production in North Carolina around the Triad area, even though it is not nearly as prevalent as it was in the past. Most of it is now relegated to high-end consumers who do not want something made in China and will pay top dollar for that.

Additionally, a substantial amount of denim used in designer jeans is produced in a mill in the Triad.

Additionally, although it's en vogue to suggest that American automakers produce fewer vehicles within the US borders than foreign makers like Toyota, Honda and BMW, it's certainly not the case. For example, my Prius was fully built in Japan.

Ely Portillo said...

This comment is from the owner, who emailed it to me after being unable to post it herself: Actually, our factory is in Indonesia because I have family there. My brother-in-law runs the factory. We employ about 1,500 people and offer shares in our company as bonuses. We also offer free on-site medical care at a clinic for employees. I can assure you we don’t use underage workers. Along with striving to be a great employer, we are environmentally conscious. We have replanted about 500,000 trees over the years in Indonesia to replace those we’ve used for furniture. I invite you to visit Dutchmans in Mooresville and see what we’ve created! - Stephanie Nieuwendijk

Tiago said...

Around the world are many different disegners who have great ideas unseen in USA. Last year I lived in a buenos aires rent with an amazing furniture quite different than ours. I felt the same when I had visited Australia or South Africa.