Most Londoners are familiar with Lovers at Work Office Furniture and their 28,000 sq. ft. showroom on Adelaide Street. Since 1983, they have been helping all sizes of businesses with space planning and facility design, furniture installations, leasing and rentals and customized furniture planning. "Lovers", as may refer to it, combine the quality and value of a local business with the power of a large Ontario-wide buying group.
What many people don't realize though is the extent of manufacturing employment Lovers has created in an industrial park near Trafalgar and Clarke Rd. In total, Lover's manufacturing arm, Belair Office Products, employs over 30 people producing office furniture for dealers across the province. One of their management team members, Rodney Lover, is very proud of the family business started by his father and the commitment of their employees, many who have been with them over 15 years.
When the economy took a turn for the worse two years ago, Rodney and the young management team looked for new opportunities and new markets to protect company revenue and employees from being impacted. As a true entrepreneurial organization, they listened to the needs of others and found solutions, leading to the launch of two new product lines directed at very different markets - Clear Future Markerboards and Belair Kids Furniture.
We all have whiteboards in our boardrooms with red, blue, black and green stains that are impossible to remove. Rodney championed a solution, and in early 2008, launched Clear Future Markerboards directed toward corporate and institutional needs. The final product is a unique take on the whiteboard but with many benefits and improvements including incredible durability, a non-ghosting surface, and a modern designer style. The surface material was sourced from the US, but the boards and many of the hardware components are manufactured and assembled here in London. Companies such as Exxon Mobil, a US Navy school, NBC- Rockefeller Centre in New York, and one of London's newest companies, NDS Americas, have become early adopters of these unique work tools. With Internet marketing a side specialty of Rodney's, dealers and end users are finding Clear Future products online through their website, Google and well-targeted Facebook ads. Visit www.clearmarkerboard.com to see this incredible new product.
Two years ago, Rodney and the President of Children's Furniture Gallery, Harold Duesbury discussed the potential to bring Belair's manufacturing capabilities to kid's furniture. Always keeping eyes and ears open for new opportunities, Rodney and General Manager, Dave Larmer decided to start their own line of Canadian made children's furniture. Through the Belair design team and with much input from Duesbury, this unique line of beds now is regularly on display in his busy showroom on Wharncliffe. The new line, Belair Kids Furniture, features a focus on safety. The beds (bunk, loft and other styles) don't have a hard-to-climb ladder, but actual non-skid steps large enough for a parent to step up for that important goodnight kiss. To maximize space, each step is also a drawer. In addition to beds, Belair provides accessories such as chests, dressers, children's desks and bookcases. Like Lovers office furniture line, the goal is to help their customers maximize space with a modern style. And the best part is that all products are manufactured here in London. For now, the main market is Ontario, and they have found several dealers to distribute their products, but inquiries have already started to come in from across Canada. www.belairkidsfurniture.ca
These new ventures have resulted in a couple new hires, but more importantly has kept the wider existing team members busy over the last two years of ups and downs. And by leveraging technology through internet and social marketing, in addition to traditional distributors, business is building.
There is no question the economy over the last two years has been very difficult for some London companies. However, for people like Rodney Lover who focus on expanding into new markets, remaining competitive, evolving product lines and focusing on innovative solutions to every day problems, the future is very clear.
