MOBELLI SOUTH AFRICA WAS BORN OUT OF MY FRUSTRATION WITH HIGH PRICES AND POOR OFFERINGS OF OUTDOOR FURNITURE WHEN I WAS LOOKING FOR A SUN LOUNGER FOR MY CAPE TOWN HOUSE.
Mobelli South Africa was born out of my frustration with high prices and poor offerings of outdoor furniture when I was looking for a sun lounger for my Cape Town house.
I searched for the perfect sun lounger high and low through specialist importers and mass market retailers. Either it was way too expensive and unrealistically priced, or, the furniture was of such low quality, that it was coming apart on the showroom floor.
Eventually my search led me to a well-known retailer in Cape Town which had wooden sun loungers. The price was right, not too expensive, certainly not cheap, and the shape was amazing – a steamer sun lounger made out of Balau wood. This was the lounger I wanted, this is the lounger I had to get, and if they had stock at the time, this would have been the sun lounger I would have bought.
After a 3 month wait, my new sun lounger arrived. It had that wooden smell and a beautiful Brown colour. The care instruction given by the sales people was that I should coat it every 6 months with oil. That alone evoked romantic images in my mind. Hot sun, a beautiful day and myself applying oil, effortlessly, on the wooden furniture, feeding the wood its nutrients. It was man made heaven.
Before I knew it, the time has come to start the “romantic” maintenance project. In hind-sight I can vouch that the process was not romantic at all. I had splinters going into my fingers because the wood had already started cracking. Some of the slats had so little space between them that effective coating was not possible. The lounger had turned to a different colour. No nourishment was ever going to piece it together. In any event, brushing was not the only thing required of me. I had to do sanding and ensure that the floor did not get dirty with oil. I had to work at it – and work hard. It was not fun and I now know that there is no romance in sanding and maintaining furniture.
2 months later, I stepped onto my patio to find the sun lounger hungry – needing more nutrients. I projected my anger at the retailer who sold me the lounger. After all, it had only been 2 months since I slaved over this lounger. The sales people told me that all of their wood loungers required maintenance every 6 weeks. That was too much for me. I could not bear the thought of having to work on my sun lounger 8 to 9 times a year.
I shared this emotional roller coaster with my brother, Aviv. We agreed that there must be a better way, a way where people can buy beautifully designed loungers of good quality at a decent price which requires little maintenance. We wanted to bring outdoor furniture which people could enjoy and use without having to spend too much time cleaning and painting and slaving over them and so Mobelli was born.
Our passion permeates throughout the company. Our customer, our staff and ourselves, know that using Mobelli outdoor furniture is a sure way to increase the enjoyment of the outdoor area in their home.
At Mobelli we vowed to limit the use of wood which requires maintenance, we ensure that we have stock so that you will not have to wait for the furniture and we promise to supply good quality furniture at affordable prices.
Please enjoy our site and our furniture and don’t be shy about telling others about the Mobelli experience.
– Alon Sachs
