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Maingard family Mangar Furniture

French-inspired furniture was a natural fit for the Maingard family, whose roots are Mauritian. Even the business’s name makes reference to their heritage – Mangar is the French pronunciation of Maingard.

“The story begins almost 60 years ago when the family settled in Durban and the next generation – close cousins – decided to pool their resources, skills, passion and talent to start a business that manufactures and sells quality crafted furniture and kitchens and offers interior-decorating services,” says operations manager Lauren Mulock-Bentley.

With a passion for all things French, specialising in Provençal-style furniture was an obvious choice for brothers Patrick and Michael Maingard, who have been manufacturing furniture and kitchens at the factory in Waterfall, KwaZulu-Natal, for over 20 years.

Their cousins, Janine and Cathy, have opened four retail shops in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, selling the family’s furniture. The talented team of ladies, including Janine and Cathy’s two daughters, Lauren and Tamsyn O’Brien, enjoy nothing more than helping customers refresh their homes with beautiful, colourful interior designs and quality furniture.

“We recognise that converting homes to the lighter French-style furniture does not mean that older pieces of furniture are no longer suitable, and the business offers a refurbishing service that turns good wooden furniture into French country-style pieces,” says Lauren.

Mangar Furniture is proud of the fact that its pieces are all locally produced, handcrafted and hand-painted.

“We are going to be opening three more branches in the next 12 months in Pretoria, the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands and Cape Town.” • Mangar Furniture, Shop 37A, Bryanston Shopping Centre, (011) 514-0185, mangarfurniture.com.