- Awarded SLIM SME Local Brand of the Year – Bronze
By Venessa Anthony
Offering products handcrafted with exceptional quality, functionality, and exclusivity, Singhe Furniture was launched nearly 50 years ago in 1979. Best described as luxury for every day, Singhe Furniture has been a one-stop shop for furnishing with an expanded retail experience and featured living, dining, and bedroom vignettes.
Over the last few decades, the store has been recognised for their brand and succeeded in staying true to their vision and mission. Their most recent achievement at the SLIM Brand Awards has certainly cemented their name on the map. They were awarded the SME Local Brand of the Year – Bronze, which is a huge honour, as it was the first time that the SLIM Brand Awards recognised and awarded a furniture company in the SME Local Brand of the Year category.
The Morning Brunch reached out to Malaka Rubasinghe, Managing Director of Singhe Group of Companies, the parent institution of Singhe Furniture, for his thoughts on this achievement and what else we can expect from the company this year.
“We are humbled and grateful for our supportive customers and are honoured to be recognised with this award. Being the first furniture company to win such an award in this category is a huge honour, and we like to think it represents our values as a brand,” he shared.
Of course, this award did not come easy, given that the last few years have been extremely challenging for all industries with the pandemic and the economic crisis. Rubasinghe shared that their all-hands-on-deck leadership approach was essential when the business was disrupted.
“We had to remodel our showrooms and strategies while finding new ways to stay in touch with our customers, and overcome these difficult times,” he said, adding that this award couldn’t have come at a better time – it has given them the motivation to work harder and continuously improve as a company to turn Singhe Furniture into a world-class brand that people would aspire to have in their houses.
Taking us down memory lane, Rubasinghe reminisced over the longstanding history of the company, informing us that Singhe Furniture has been through many transformations since its inception in the 70s, especially over the last 12 years, once he was involved. 
“When I was handed the reins for the company, my first goal was to establish the brand as a recognisable household name for luxury furniture,” he stated, explaining that this was only possible by painstakingly paying attention to the most minute details and the quality of materials and construction, which elevated the popularity of their sofas, beds, dining tables, and more.
He added that with this award, it seems to say that they have successfully achieved that target, and have demonstrated the brand as a luxury investment.
Speaking about the furniture itself that won them the award, Rubasinghe informed us that Singhe Furniture takes pride in having the largest teak furniture collection in Sri Lanka in their showrooms in Moratuwa and Malabe.
“We are home to a range of expertly designed furniture pieces made of the highest quality raw materials in the market, which include fabrics sourced from South East Asia and Europe, and longevity-guaranteed quality teak wood from the State Timber Corporation, so you are certain to find something to your taste,” he added.
He also took us through their manufacturing process, to give us a peak behind the scenes.
“When coming up with concepts for our designs, we try to give each price of furniture its own personality, so it can stand out on its own, and not be swallowed up by clutter,” he told us, adding that they ensure the finished pieces in a set all complement each other in terms of texture and material so that their customers can have a final product that matches the aesthetic of their home.
When talking about their plans for this year, Rubasinghe told us that they have a lot of interesting things in the pipeline. Given that the situation in the country is easing up, they plan to come back stronger than ever, continue creating a name for their brand, and conquer the furniture market both locally and internationally.