DEDON Outdoor Furniture From Home Resource In Sarasota, Florida
From Classic To Cool
A perfect marriage of contemporary design and Florida living can be found in the DEDON line of outdoor furniture, handcrafted by master weavers in the Philippines.
From such classics as the Orbit canopied loveseat and Hemisphere lounge chair by acclaimed designer Richard Frinier, to such outrageously cool pieces as the NestRest hanging chair by Daniel Pouzet and Fred Frety, DEDON continues to inspire and surprise.
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[1]The story of DEDON is in itself quite interesting, and life-affirming. The company was founded 20 years ago by Bobby Dekeyser, the goalie for the FC Bayern Munich soccer team. A head injury landed him in a hospital bed in Munich, which gave him time to reflect upon his life. DEDON started right there in his hospital room. The only problem was, Bobby didn’t know yet what the company was going to do. Part of an entrepreneurial family, all he knew was that he wanted to work with family and friends in a nice environment.
The early days of DEDON were a time of exploration. The only experiment that held much promise was a synthetic fiber Bobby created with his uncle Seppi Hummer, an expert in plastics extrusion. The fiber was supple yet strong, natural in appearance, yet completely resilient to the elements.
Bobby patented the secret formula as DEDON Fiber, but was unsure of what to do with it – until he attended a furniture show in Cologne in 1991. There he saw some exquisitely woven rattan chairs, loungers and daybeds from the Philippines, offered by entrepreneur Manny Climaco. They seemed like the perfect application for his proprietary fiber. Six days later, he was on a plane to the Philippines with a roll of DEDON fiber slung over his shoulder, and the rest is history.
Bobby relocated his family to the Phillipines to oversee the integration of this new business model. This move was what DEDON needed and the company rapidly expanded. Six months later, the family returned to Germany. They decided to move to the countryside outside of Lüneburg, converting a centuries old farmhouse into DEDON’s first headquarters.
Today, DEDON is the global leader in fine outdoor furniture. The company still employs family and friends, as well as 3,000 other workers at its headquarters in Lüneburg and in two shifts at its manufacturing facilities in Cebu Island in the Philippines.
With a separate showroom for outdoor furniture, Home Resource carries a range of pieces from many DEDON collections. This includes the latest pieces by Philippe Starck, one of the most well known designers in the New Design style, as well as Lounge, Panama, Seashell, Slim Line, Barcelona, and the new Tribeca line by Frinier.
Until recently, DEDON was distributed in the U.S. by Janus et Cie, but now sells directly to retailers. We are confident our relationship with DEDON will perpetuate Home Resource’s reputation for showcasing the world’s leading and most exciting furniture brands.
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Michael Bush
Michael Bush and his wife, Kathy, are the owners of Home Resource, the leading contemporary and modern furniture retailer on Florida’s Gulf Coast, located at 741 Central Avenue in downtown Sarasota, Florida. For more information, visit www.homeresource.com [3] or call (941) 366.6690.
Copyright © 2011 REAL Magazine
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