How entrepreneur fuses art with design to hack competitive furniture market

In 2022, Charlotte Obidairo, an entrepreneur and business development professional, opened a store for the Danish furniture brand Bo Concept, in Westlands, Nairobi, to serve the East African market.

Founded years ago by two Danish cabinet makers, Jens Erthoj and Tage Molholm, Bo Concept had for decades established itself as a household name in the Danish and wider European furniture market.

However, the brand’s exposure in Africa was limited to a small audience and with a lot of other players offering almost similar products, would require a very unique marketing approach to gain traction locally.

“Other retailers were already selling the designs we had, so the only way we could differentiate ourselves was if we focused on promoting the experience and not the designs or pricing we offered,” says Ms Obidairo in an interview with Powering SMEs.

One of the things Charlotte discovered when she first came to Africa is that the continent really appreciated art in all its different forms. Whether it was a painting, a sculpture or a drawing, it was not uncommon for one to walk into an African home and find various pieces of art displayed on walls or table tops.

However, since most furniture showrooms only displayed furniture, art lovers would experience difficulties in seeing how the pieces in their homes would match the furniture they intended to purchase.

“I interacted with many people who would tell me about a time they bought furniture, only to have to change their artwork since the furniture they bought did not match the artwork in their home,” poses Ms Obidairo.

By creating a fusion between the furniture or interior design pieces which her company sold and the work of artists, she knew that she would endear the company to clients who were fond of art.

Therefore, a few months into the business, the entrepreneur decided to create a concept dubbed ‘art meet design’ that would see the company invite artists to display their artwork in the furniture showroom in Westlands. Not only would this model enable clients to see how art and furniture would look in their homes. It would also enable artists to access the wall space they often need to display their art but rarely get access to.

“Usually, galleries are very selective about the kind of artists they allow to display their work. If you are an emerging artist then you find it very difficult to access that display space,” she pose.

The firm’s first exhibition in Kenya, which they did in partnership with a local art gallery, turned out to be a huge success, so much that they decided to establish a more formal entity dubbed the Nomadic Art Gallery, to identify and manage promising artists in Africa.

Since inception, the gallery has engaged a mix of more than 100 emerging, mid-level career and popular artists across Africa.

“When picking artists, we don’t just look at skills, we also look out for alignment, drive and how their work would fuse with the local culture,” says Mercy Imeigha, who manages the Nomadic Art Gallery.

“For example, Ekene Ngige, one of the artists whose pieces we are displaying at the BoConcept showroom in Westlands, uses coffee to paint, a product which Kenya is well-known for globally,” she adds.

Given the slow and unpredictable nature of the business, the Nomadic Art Gallery has evolved into an innovative way for the business to remain afloat, when furniture sales are low.

“Especially when we have low periods, the gallery has become a good way for us to attract other audiences that may come to see the art, but end up buying a piece of furniture,” says Ms Obidairo.

Other than artists, the company also seeks to start working closely with professionals whose careers are tied to the furniture business, including counsellors, interior designers, architects, general vendors, wine sellers and bakers.

“It is extremely important for us to work with literally anybody whose career may be relevant to what we are doing,” says Ms Obidairo.

“We recently engaged a lady in the wellness business, thinking about how furniture fits in with wellness. Such professionals can invite their clients here, so they can talk in an environment that represents the serenity that their business also represents,” she adds.

In Africa, Bo Concept currently has about eight stores spread across Kenya, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and South Africa, through which it serves a diverse range of customers including interior designers, expatriates, tech professionals and art enthusiasts.

Ms Obidairo admits that they still haven’t been able to get the exposure they desire, but remain optimistic that the awareness models they have adopted will see them rope in more clients.

“Growing our clientele has not been very easy because it’s not until people experience our products that they can buy them, which is why we are doing events with the nomadic art gallery to bring in people who otherwise may not have been seeking us out,” posed Obidairo.

The amount of time and money it takes to bring in products from their source market into Kenya, has also been a challenge that the business has had to grapple with, for the three years they have been operating here.

Through the Nomadic Art Gallery, the entrepreneur hopes to host more art exhibitions in Kenya, represent more Kenyan artists in the local showroom and grant them opportunities to travel and exhibit in other stores across the continent.

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