Cawley's Furniture is at the cutting-edge of building and designing bedroom furniture.Rose Doyle reports
The core team-of-four who have built up and run Cawley's Furniture have more in common than a commitment to the design and manufacture of quality, fitted bedroom furniture - wardrobes in particular.
Edward Cawley, who started the business a quarter of a century ago and with whom "the buck stops", David Sweeney, the company's sales manager, general manager Padraig O'Dowd and production manager Eugene Sweeney all come from Sligo.
More than that; they all come from the Enniscrone area. Edward Cawley says he "gradually built up the team. We've been together almost 25 years now."
Those years have seen Cawley's Furniture grow to the point where today's company employs some 80 people, occupies a 9,290 sq m (100,000 sq ft) premises in Cherry Orchard Industrial Estate plus a (372 sq m (4,000 sq ft) storage area and runs an off-shoot company called Softline Panels.
The bulk of the company's work these days involves the design and manufacture of a stylish and wide range of wardrobes, as well as the bedroom furniture to go with them, for major developments being built by the country's major developers.
The company enjoys continuous growth and has doubled production since moving to its larger premises in the millennium year.
Founder Edward Cawley began his working life as a carpenter, serving his time in the UK. "It was always in my mind to set up a business. My father was a small farmer but I'd a lot of uncles who were tradesmen and carpenters. I worked as a carpenter in Dublin in the mid 1970s, mostly for Dwyer and Nolan, who were big developers then."
The beginning was small; three-to-four people working together in a garage at the side of a house in Lucan. Things had grown enough by 1979 for a move to Cherry Orchard Industrial Estate, and a 372 sq m (4,000 sq ft) factory space.
"We began to get our feet on the ground," Edward Cawley says, "and as further space became available we extended until we had 20,000 sq ft (1,858 sq m) to work in. Today we've close on 9,290 sq m (100,000 sq ft) - and still have the original 4,000 around the corner which we use for storage."
Edward Cawley and Dave Sweeney sit remembering how things were. How wardrobes weren't always a style item, simply a bedroom necessity. "In 1979 people wanted all dark wood," Dave says, "mahogany frames and mahogany veneer doors. Fitted bedroom furniture wasn't really the thing - that trend didn't start to develop until the mid 1980s."
Edward Cawley remembers "lovely styles in the mid 1980s but people having no money to pay for them. Even up to 15-20 years ago everything had to be cheaply done and you had to be highly competitive.
"We were the first people to bring Shaker doors into the country, in about 1984, but couldn't sell them. People thought them too plain! Then I got them into one development and they just flew out the door. Thank God the market moved on.
"The emphasis today is on style and quality. We, as a company, put in a lot of time persuading some of the top builders here in Dublin to go for what we wanted to make. Cosgrave Bros, in particular, listened to what we proposed and then, for each new development of theirs, we'd aim to have something new. "That sort of contract work began in the 1980s with Morehampton Square in Donnybrook. Basically, through those years, we worked for Cosgrave Bros on the southside and Bovale on the northside. And for other builders too, of course."
Other early developments fitted by Cawleys included Donnybrook Manor and, through the 1990s, the likes of Pembroke Square on Grand Canal and Ardilea, off Roebuck Road. Today, their wardrobes and bedroom furniture is going into the prestigious (Cosgrave Bros again) Howth Lodge development where 55 luxury apartments will cost from an approximate €800,000 to €2.5m.
"We cater for all markets, big and small, from some of Ireland's leading builders such as Menolly Homes, McInerneys and Cosgrave Bros," says Edward Cawley.
Designs and fittings are a lot more streamlined these days. The design happens in-house, with Edward Cawley and his team working together but also, when needed, in consultation with the architects and interior designers involved on various developments.
Edward Cawley has always made a point of travelling to furniture shows, mainly in Italy and Germany, bringing back ideas. "We work out then how we can manufacture them," he says, "what machinery is needed. Every developer wants something new and different. Design work is unending and keeps us on our toes." Dave Sweeney and Edward Cawley agree that team work is vital - not least for the customer. "It's important they see we're not here today and gone tomorrow," Edward Cawley explains.
Today's style is minimalist and streamlined. Edward Cawley thinks it's got something to do with people wanting to cut down on cleaning. "There are no crevices, no dust collecting groves. It's a general trend, even in glass. Look at John Rocha's pieces, how clean they are. Today's favoured woods are cherry, maple and alder. They're all light woods and easy on the eye. Mahogany is gone - though for years you couldn't get raw mahogany into the country fast enough!"
They do occasional one-off, unique designs. "They're lovely to do but, from a production point of view, very labour intensive and not practical," Edward Cawley says.
The company is planning to devise new styles and introduce new lines in the future.
Both men say they're lucky to have about 20 Latvians on the workforce. "They're all experienced in the business," Edward Cawley says. "I first met one man and through him built up the numbers." Dave Sweeney says their business was built on the loyalty given to them by a number of bigger builders - "so we must be doing something right! We aim to give good quality and service."
"The attitude here," Edward Cawley says, "is that if it's not good enough for our own houses we're not going to send it out to go into anyone else's."
