Over the years, here at Cane Direct, we have made thousands of deliveries of cane furniture throughout the country to very satisfied customers.  Not all of these deliveries have been made to conventional conservatories.

One such deliveries that spring to mind is a delivery that was done to a house with a huge conservatory spanning the whole of the back of the house which made been built to house the family snooker table.  As the area described was so large, this idea worked so well.  With the full sized snooker table at one end of the conservatory, and three cane sofas complete with side tables and a large centre table at the other.  The cane furniture was sprayed in a dark green colour, to compliment the snooker table. The conservatory also contained huge amounts of real foliage to finish it off.  The overall look was stunning.

Another delivery that comes mind, was to to large house in the South of England.  When our driver pulled up at the electric gates, there was a massive swimming pool.  These customers had ordered furniture from our outdoor cane furniture range.  The four loungers were placed by the side of the swimming pool, and the eight seater outdoor cane furniture dinning table was placed on the patio.  The customers were thrilled with the furniture. So much so, that we received other orders from our range from some of their friends who were quite taken with the quality of our outdoor cane furniture range.

Many of our customers who decide to have a conservatory built use the space as a play room.  Again, cane furniture is a winner in this situation.  A ten year guarantee is given on the frames of our furniture at Cane Direct.  Our cane furniture regularly outlasts the traditional sofas that can be bought from large companies.  Our range of fabrics makes it easy to find a suitable child friendly fabric, as many of our fabrics our washable.  Making them ideal for a playroom.

Needless to say, the majority of our deliveries do go to conventional type conservatories, which all look different, and all look stunning.  That is why so many of our customers return to us after years, for new cane furniture or a re-cover as they are unable to wear out the frame!

Have you ever taken the time to scroll through the pages and pages on the internet of companies under the heading of Cane Furniture?  Many of the companies which appear have absolutely nothing to do with Cane Furniture, so we tend to eliminate them straight away… quite rightly so.  Many of the other companies which appear will be department stores, selling maybe one or two items of cane or conservatory furniture.  Probably not really what you are looking for!

Keep looking and you will find many fantastic companies totally specializing in Cane and Conservatory furniture.  Included in this heading will be many companies selling only to trade.  So, you may well find the perfect three piece cane suite for your brand new conservatory, with the exact fabric you had in mind.  Only to be told that they cannot sell it to you, as you are not a trade customer.  This problem occurs time and time again. And is so disappointing for the purchaser.

Many of the companies selling cane furniture, have fairly decent websites, but, don’t give proper descriptions or photos of the furniture.  This leaves the customer with a dilemma, as when you spend a lot of money you need to be 100% sure that this is the right product for you.  Choosing cane or conservatory furniture from one tiny picture and very little product information is quite risky.

Take a look at the Cane Direct website.  This website is dedicated to selling Cane and Conservatory furniture to the general public.  The site is clean and crisp and is so easy to navigate.  The photos have been specially taken so as to display different images and not just lifted from trade magazines.  Great detail is taken to show even the bases of the furniture, and every question you can think of is answered as if you were in a shop face to face with a sales advisor.  Close up photos of the cane furniture show the different weaves, styles and colors in great detail leaving the customer in no doubt that they are dealing with a very professional company.

The Cane Direct website also has a shopping basket included, so the customer can buy on line.  The system is so easy to use, so for those customers who do not wish to speak to a sales advisor, this is an ideal option.  All the information required is easily accessed, but the sales advisors are only a phone call away for your new cane furniture.

Part four.

The credit crunch bites!! But not at Cane Direct we purchased our cane furniture. As we explained in our last post we purchased our furniture over twelve months ago, and believe me we purchased a heck of a lot!. What this means is that we can still offer our quality products at last years prices,  so there will be no increase, unlike our competitors, we were not in the position to do this.

What has happened this year, is that all the prices in the furniture industry have had to go up, it first started at the start of the year with the oil prices increasing at a rapid rate, so the factories had no choice but to put their prices up because of the massive increase in energy, most of the factories are run by oil you see.

Then came the increase in shipping costs also because of the oil prices, on top of that the cost of the raw materials for cane furniture also went up, at the time it was not so bad because the dollar rate against the pound so good, we were getting over two dollars to the pound, so we did not have to worry to much these increases, not the case now the dollar rate has dropped badly against the pound and is looking to drop even more over the next few months with out making any recovery in the near future.

Oil prices have gone down, but its funny once a factory has a price increase they never bring the prices down again, but at Cane Direct you do not have to worry our cane furniture will stay the same price for the next twelve months.

Part three.

As we have been discussing in previous articles, as to how the credit crunch may have effected the sales of cane furniture, not just in the united kingdom but around the world, has has there been price increases on the world furniture markets not just in cane but also in other products that are imported from over seas.

At Cane Direct we are not to badly off because we bought our stock more than twelve months ago, so we are able to hold our prices at the current time, but smaller companies who didn’t do this may well have to put there prices up, which in this climate is not a good idea, but they may have little choice, the knock on effect of this will cause them major problems, because they will not be as competitive as companies like Cane Direct. The other option open to them, is not to have a price increase so that they can still turn stock over, the big problem with this is that they must take a reduction in their margins, this can have a terrible long term effect. Normally this route of action can only end in one way, and that is the lost of jobs, with in there company, because some how they must try to get back the loss of margin and the only way to do this is by cutting your over heads or selling more furniture, the idea of selling more furniture in a recession is a bit of a tall order.

At Cane Direct we do not have this problem because we bought well in advance and can offer our customers cane furniture, at a great price with out putting any jobs at risk.

Part two.

On our last post we were telling you about conservatory furniture, and can it beat the credit crunch that is going on all around us at the moment, i don’t think i have met one person who is not been effected by this credit crunch that is not just happening in our country but around the globe, i have just come back from a trip to Asia, and trade is very slow there as well, i stayed at my normal hotel which is always full, on this trip most of the rooms were empty. People are just not going on buying trips or holidays.

So now is the best time to buy your new cane furniture ready for summer next year. Don’T wait until the spring when prices will go up, winter time is the slowest time of year for any one selling conservatory furniture and with the credit crunch on top of that you can get your self’s some really good deals.

At Cane Direct we sell only really good quality furniture, but as with every one else we are offering some very special prices to our customers, have a look at our web site and you will see just how good our prices really are. We do not ever buy in sale stock like a lot of companies do, they marked it up and then reduce the price to make it look like you are getting a real deal, when in fact you will be paying the same as you would have out side the sale for your conservatory furniture. So grab a real deal and shop at Cane Direct.

PART ONE.

I have put part one because i think there might be a few parts to this post, in the current climate, will the cane furniture business be affected by the credit crunch? I think that this turn down in trade will and has effected most business, at Cane Direct we have made plans for this turn down, and will get through the next twelve months which i think are going to be the hardest, we have been trading for more than fifteen years and during that time we have been through a few recessions.

We offer our customers a wide range of furniture that will suit most pockets, we also offer a very good quality product at the right price, and no matter what the climate may be people are always looking for quality products at a good price.

We do not heavily discount our products, because i truly believe this can have a real detrimentally effect on any business. At the end of the day, a business weather it is selling furniture or carrots has to make money to pay wages, bills, and all the other wonderful over heads that comes with running a business, if you start to heavily discount your margins are reduced and you run the chance of being unable to pay your bills, even though the sales might be there you still have to cover your over heads.

At Cane Direct, we purchased our cane furniture over twelve months ago and paid for it, so what this means is that our prices will remain the same and will not increase, unlike some companies who will have no choice but to put up there prices because the dollar rate. All cane furniture is purchased in dollars you see.

When looking for cane furniture with a little difference the Emirates range is particularly popular, even though it cannot be split up into individual pieces it only comes as a set, however if by any chance you did, there is no reason why some pieces could not be sold on their own.

Prices start at: £5050.00

So if it’s a light tan dessert effect that you want for your furniture then the Nevada range is what you are looking for. This is one of the popular rattan and cane suites which have become so popular in conservatories in recent years.  This particular one is made to a high quality standard with a modern look to compliment most conservatories. It is also available with matching coffee table and of course a foot stool so you can relax in comfort.

Despite the name, a Monaco Suite set of cane furniture is not based on the Grand Prix.  For many suppliers, this range sells particularly well.

It has been built with a sturdy frame and woven carefully with what is known as “sea grass”,and it certainly does look the part as it compliments a conservatory setting with a perfect finish.

Now that we arec oming in to our quiet time for cane furniture, being the winter months when people do not really use their conservatoires as much as they do in the summer, it is a good time for us at Cane Direct to get ready for next spring and to look at doing our buying of furniture and fabrics.

As we mentioned in our last post we have just finished a buying trip to Malaysia, where we picked a great new range of furniture samples which should be with us very soon. Once we have picked the furniture that we are going to run for next spring, we then need to look at the colours ans styles of fabrics that are going to be in fashion for next year, this is probably one of the hardest jobs, of putting together a new range each year.

I leave this job to my buying team and do not get involved with it at all, i have a good eye for buying the furniture because i have been doing it for more then fifteen years, but to be very honest when it comes to picking fabrics i am not very good with designs and colours, and this is probably one of the most important parts of the job, because the fabric really does set the furniture off, it is the first thing that the customer sees, and if you do not have the right fabric on your furniture the customer will not even look at your product even if its the best looking piece of cane furniture in the world.