As it celebrates 50 successful years in serving a clientele from three generations T Suriyaarachchi and Sons continues to create ‘wooden furniture for tomorrow’ through the strength and stability gathered through the years. Having taken over the reins of the family business Hemalal Kumara Suriyaarachchi, Anula Kumara Suriyaarachchi and Lalith Waruna Suriyaarachchi, the sons of founder T Suriyaarachchi, speak of humble beginnings and the journey since.
by Kamalika Jayathilaka
Having first stepped into the capital city Colombo in the early 1960s as a building contractor from Baddegama in the South with a keen interest in the furniture business, T Suriyaarachchi formed his company in 1962 as a small wooden furniture showroom and workshop in Wattala. He soon developed a satisfied clientele becoming a household name in the region. Successfully moving on to the 1980s Suriyaarachchi had taken an initiative to multiply his showrooms, buying a land for his second showroom at Mahara and opening it in 1985. By 1989 he was a proud owner of three wooden furniture showrooms that would eventually belong to his three sons.
“There had been many furniture businesses in the area when our father started, which was in a very small scale. Today however, we are the only ones to have survived for so long and even that rather successfully,” stated Hemalal Kumara Suriyaarachchi, the youngest of T Suriyaarachchi’s sons currently involved in taking the family business forward with his two brothers.
“We Have Already Acquired Two Lands In Kandana And Ja-Ela And Plan To Put Up Two More Furniture Showrooms Within The Next Two Years.”
Well established and renowned, T Suriyaarachchi and Sons is today a thriving company committed to providing the best in quality and standards; and have already won the trust of a clientele spanning two generations or more. Working primarily with Teak, the furniture makers ensure that they move ahead with the times in offering products that are both modern in style and practical with regards to utility. “Even though we have the ability to produce furniture using cheaper varieties of material and boards with artificial colours to earn more profits we have chosen to use only Teak and create furniture that would last generations,” added Hemalal Suriyaarachchi.
“As creators and manufacturers of wooden furniture we make an effort to come out with our own unique designs that will set us apart from other furniture manufacturers. All three of us have been blessed with an eye for design, which has led us to constantly innovate our furniture designs. Coupled with the the knowledge passed on to us by our father we have so far been very successful in taking the name forward,” stated Anula Kumara Suriyaarachchi further elaborating on their standards.
T Suriyaarachchi and Sons not only caters to individual and household furniture requirements but is also capable of mass production in serving large scale organisations. Nonetheless, irrespective of the client they are prepared to make a prior visit to the client and the house or establishment in need of furniture for a proper understanding of the furniture requirement, style and design.
“Certain furniture manufacturers only give prominence to the design and appearance and not the ergonomics. We on the other hand make sure that the comfort and utility factor is also there in any item of wooden furniture that we create,” stated Anula Kumara Suriyaarachchi explaining the essential balance between the look and the feel of furniture.
As the current proprietors steering the business forward the three Suriyaarachchi brothers have not only been efficiently trained in running the business but have also undergone appropriate training on the process of manufacture and all three are capable of crafting furniture. “We have already acquired two properties in Kandana and Ja-Ela and plan to put up two more furniture showrooms within the next two years,” stated Hemalal Kumara Suriyaarachchi.
Achieving 50 years in business is a milestone, as such the Company has not forgotten their valued customers who have made T Suriyaarachchi and Sons a success. Therefore, “clients will be given special 50 year anniversary discounts till January 2013”, said Hemalal Kumara Suriyaarachchi.
“Even though many wooden furniture businesses have mushroomed within the 50 years since our father, T Suriyaarachchi initiated the business; thanks to the solid foundation he had laid, today we have the strength and determination to forge steadily ahead as a thriving business establishment,” concluded Lalith Waruna Suriyaarachchi.
