How social media saved the Arnold Wells furniture business
By Alva Solomon
When Arnold Wells returned to Guyana from Venezuela in 1996, he started making furniture at his home at Charity, on the Essequibo Coast in Region Two. After several years, the business started to grow, but Wells’s age was beginning to take a toll on business enhancement.
Arnold Wells Jr adding the finishing touches to a cupboard
Then his son, Arnold Wells Jr., who had been working alongside his father since childhood, decided to step in, and thanks to social media, the business was salvaged.
Today, the entity is growing, and the younger Wells has vowed to continue his father’s legacy of making unique furniture to suit the customers’ needs. The younger Wells has told Guyana Times that the business was almost closed when his father grew too old to continue managing the entity.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for my career. When I got married, my wife encouraged me to take over the business from my dad. Because of his age, he’d decided we were going to close the furniture shop,” the younger Wells disclosed.
Facebook feedback
The younger Wells said the family then decided to create a Facebook Page: Wells Furniture Establishment, several months ago.
“Since we created our Facebook page and posted how our business was established, we started to get more customers,” the 24-year-old has said. This has taken such a positive step that the entity is fully booked by customers until July this year. And more people are calling up with requests.
Arnold Wells Jr (at left) and his father, Arnold Wells Snr
“We have received a lot of feedback on social media from many people, some of (whom) became new customers,” the young man disclosed.
Earlier this year, on Facebook, the young Wells posted about the history of the business and where it stands today. The post has received hundreds of likes and shares, and many people have commented and encouraged him to continue developing the business.
His father’s legacy
The younger Wells recounted that, during his younger years, his father had been a boat builder at the Port Kaituma River mouth in Region One. He then moved to Venezuela, where he lived most of his adult life. And one day in 1996, he decided to return to his homeland in the company of his wife, Drewpattie Samaroo.
Wells Snr then sought employment at the Barakat Sawmill, and during that time, he developed a liking for making furniture. He started with limited tools and a small number of customers at the time.
A wineglass rack made by the furniture manufacturer
Wells Jr was always in his father’s company, and, as early as age five, was perfecting his skills in his father’s furniture shop. With over 12 years of experience at the shop, Wells Jr. managed to secure a Secondary Competency Certificate in Joinery at Charity Secondary School in November 2014, then went on to enhance his trade skills at the Essequibo Technical Institute (ETI), where he studied welding, joinery, and heavy-duty machinery. He completed the courses and graduated.
Marriage
Wells Jr said his plans then hit a snag, and he was unsure in regard to his future. He said he sought employment as a security guard, and later as a site monitor with a trucking service. At the same time, he was working along with his father in their furniture shop.
“When I met my beautiful wife, she encouraged me to work full-time in the furniture shop. I’m proud to be the owner of this company,” he declared.
He said the company has been making various types of furniture, including stools, tables, chairs, nightstands, cupboards, kitchen islands, TV stands, beds, wine racks, shoe racks, wardrobes, spindles, and many other items. “You name it, we build it,” he said.
Seeking industrial land
The young man is presently seeking industrial land to expand the furniture establishment. “We cannot facilitate large-scale production because of limited working space,” he said. In addition, the entity has secured a very vital piece of equipment – the JCX 1325 CNC machine – which may be the only one of its kind in the furniture industry in Guyana.
“Our aim is to acclimate industrial land to expand, where we can employ people in our community to work; and import more machines, so we can do large-scale production and target businesses outside our region,” the ambitious Wells Jr has said.
Wells Jnr has said he owes a great debt of gratitude to his father. “I will forever be grateful for the foundation my father set in my life and our business,” he added.
He is advising young men in particular to work hard and make the necessary sacrifices that life demands. “Nothing comes easily,” he advises.
