Monday, June 11, 2007

Recycling Furniture from Hotels

STEPPING into the Kin Peun Trading warehouse is like opening a treasure chest – there are many “goodies” waiting to be discovered by those with a discerning eye or looking for a value-for-money item.

Kin Peun Trading is a hotel furniture liquidator and recycler that specialises in getting the finest furnishings from five-star hotels worldwide, like Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beverly Hills, and selling them in Malaysia for a fraction of their original price.

“We sell anything and everything that can be removed from hotels (and service apartments), which includes items from bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and offices,” said manager Mok Wai Kin.

Oriental: This beautiful 18-month-old TV cabinet can be modified and used as a storage or display cabinet.
“Most of them are still in mint condition, although about 5% of the stock will be slightly damaged, with some nicks, dents or bruises, as they are used items.”

Kin Peun’s collection includes furniture like beds, couches, chairs, tables and dressers, to soft furnishings like curtains, bedspreads and carpets, to crockery and utensils like teaspoons and glasses, to electric and electronic products like television sets and refrigerators, and even shower heads, framed pictures, mirrors and pillows.

They are acquired from some well-recognised international hotels, including the Westin, Shangri-La, Inter-Continental and Mandarin Oriental, and designed based on a combination of various themes like Oriental, minimalistic, colonial, Zen and contemporary.

YC Mok, Wai Kin’s father, explained that most five-star hotels furnish their rooms with top quality furniture, and that they consistently refurbish their rooms, with an average five to seven-year cycle.

“Hotels in Hong Kong and Shanghai have high tourist and business turnovers, so they tend to maximise usage of their furniture. Even their fabrics are changed every 18 months.

“Some of the furniture are considered collector’s items, as these are designed and manufactured specifically for high-end hotel suites for a specific clientele.

“If we are not there to recycle the items, they’ll be thrown away and end up at landfills,” said Mok, 57.

“These big hotel corporations are concerned about environmental issues, and they’re all happy with this recycling idea as it helps reduce wastage.

“I get a lot of satisfaction in doing a business with a noble achievement for the environment. It’s a win-win situation for everybody,” said Mok, who got the idea to start his business from a friend in Australia, who was doing a similar business there.

“Although our products are second-hand items, they’re just as good as items sold at stores which could cost 10 times more than what we sell here!

“Hotel furnishings are meant to last a few years, which means they’re sturdy, classic (popular or ageless items) and of high quality, as well as feature good workmanship and design.”

Kin Peun was founded by Mok 12 years ago, and initially started acquiring room sets from local five-star hotels and supplying them to local three-star hotels and resorts.

“At that time, we dealt only with people in the hotel industry, and dad, who was working in the real estate line then, also helped agents to furnish houses for better returns,” said Wai Kin, who came in to help his father when their retail business and overseas project started in 2002.

He now handles the company’s day-to-day management and operations, while Mok does the sourcing and public relations work.

Kin Peun’s retail clientele includes individual purchasers who buy furniture for their own homes or properties to be rented out, interior designers who buy items as it is or reupholster them to be resold at a higher value, as well as well-heeled people who want a piece of memory of a hotel they once stayed at.

Meanwhile, the store has dealers who buy its furniture at discounted prices and sell them in other states.

“About 98% of our items are priced at less than RM1,000. They’re basically sold at 10-20% of their original price,” said Wai Kin, 30.

“Those who wish to completely furnish a 1,200 sq feet apartment with furniture, decorations and furnishings, can estimate to spend about RM3,000 to RM5,000 here, depending on their preferences.”

Kin Peun has a showroom that offers retail customers ideas on how to mix-and-match the various items found at its warehouse and create their individual styles.

It also offers unconventional yet practical ideas, like using a cabinet door as partition, or corridor lamps as a lamp centrepiece.

The settings, created by an external consultant or interior designer, are changed every six months.

The company receives new stocks every few months and the quantity received depends on the season.

Customers can request for delivery service.

  • KIN PEUN TRADING (showroom and retail warehouse) 22, Sri Utara, Batu 7, Jalan Ipoh, 63100 Kuala Lumpur. (Tel: 03-6258 2188). Business hours: Mon-Fri (10am-6pm); Sat (10am-2pm). Closed on Sun.



  • Source : STAR
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    1 comment:

    KKL Trading Sdn Bhd said...

    Kedai Kaki Lelong™ warehouses are stacked, packed and crammed with an ever-changing inventory of quality furniture, mattresses, hotel furniture, stainless steel kitchen equipment and crockery and utensils at closeout prices.

    We bargain with makers of brand new furniture, restaurant owners, hotel managers and government and private auctioneers from around the world for the best deals possible.

    With the belief that living shouldn’t cost too much, they accept only the lowest price so Kedai Kaki Lelong™ can pass the savings on to you.

    Established in Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya in 1995, the company sold everything from shoes to stoves and office furniture to kitchen equipment. In 2003, Warehouse Sales burst onto the scene with the start of the warehouse in Kelana Jaya with over 100,000 sq.ft. of used and auctioned items . Over the years, Kedai Kaki Lelong™ focused on closeouts and overstocks and then special order and mainstream lines of furnishings and company closeouts and renovations.

    Kedai Kaki Lelong™ opened their second and third warehouse in Section 19, Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam and is expending rapidly. In a world where big box retailers offer all the same styles and looks with inflated prices, Kedai Kaki Lelong offers cut down prices on real time furniture and hotel, company and restaurant items. Dress up your home or business for much, much less…. visit Kedai Kaki Lelong™ in one of the warehouses now!

     

     

     

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