From Showroom to Storefront: One Couple's Love for Latin Culture Inspired a Global Luxury Furniture Brand They've overcome obstacles and charted a course to success for their business, ADRIANA HOYOS.

Even from a young age, Adriana Hoyos, a native of Ecuador, was drawn to design. If you ask her, she says she has always known that she wanted to become a designer. "When I was a kid, I used to design all of my doll houses, and I can remember appreciating architecture, art, and anything that had to do with interior design," she recalls.

This fascination didn't fade as Hoyos grew up–it flourished. She translated her passion to her studies and, later, a successful career that has spanned hundreds of interior design projects and 13 furniture collections. She and her husband-turned-business partner, Eduardo Perez, launched their iconic design brand, ADRIANA HOYOS, in 1994. Today, the company employs more than 350 people in Ecuador and the U.S.

"As I grew in my career, I began to realize that sometimes I couldn't find furniture that had the characteristics or DNA that fit into my vision for a space," she explains. This sparked a business opportunity for Hoyos and Perez, an industrial engineer with a background in the textile industry business.

The hallmark of a growth business relationship is evolution.

Perez, who has experience in business operations, strategic planning, and marketing, joined Hoyos nearly 30 years ago to launch their furniture design and manufacturing venture and help bring Hoyos' creative visions full circle. "We began in Ecuador and decided to move the business to the United States in 2001," Perez explains. "We saw an opportunity to offer something different, high-quality, and iconic to the industry that is deeply rooted in Latin American heritage. So, we came to Miami with the intention of making ADRIANA HOYOS a luxury brand that can compete in a very large and difficult market."

With the growing presence of Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S.—a figure that has increased 34 percent in the decade preceding the pandemic—there was a unique opportunity for ADRIANA HOYOS to place roots in the U.S. and participate in adding to the $800 billion that Hispanic-owned businesses contribute to the American economy annually¹.

"Since moving to the U.S., we have been in a constant evolution of the design of the product, and now we are a truly global brand. We are exporting to 17 countries around the globe because we are always bringing something fresh to the market," Hoyos continues.

"Our brand is well-known in the furniture industry because of our innovation and glamourous products. We are a family-owned organization that is focused on customer appreciation," Perez states.

"We had to learn a lot about the U.S. and focus on making our product unique—giving it the texture and elements of design that would make a difference among other competitors," Hoyos says. "That marked the beginning of everything."

Forming new strategic alliances for growth.

This success hasn't come without challenges. As their business grew more popular in the U.S., the couple encountered obstacles facing many small business owners – from managing cashflow and improving business operations to purchasing inventory and securing funding.

"As immigrants from Latin America, it was difficult for us to open a line of credit or secure funding for the growth of the business in the U.S. But after 20 years, we finally found a strategic partner in Chase," Perez says. "When we first started talking to Chase, they were genuinely interested in our business model and goals, they weren't only focused on how much we were doing in sales or revenue numbers. They wanted to know about the people behind the business."

Thanks to their relationship with Chase, the couple was able to crystalize the company's vision and financial planning for the next generation of ADRIANA HOYOS and even open their first brick-and-mortar store in the U.S. "Chase has brought us different solutions for our small business to succeed that were not always available to us," Perez explains.

"We always had to rent showrooms in the U.S., and that cost was continuously increasing," Hoyos adds. "Even though we have our manufacturing facilities and our assets in South America, that was somehow never good enough for other banks. But Chase understood who we were and what our business was about and they really believed in us."

A vibrant future ahead.

With the financial support and backing from Chase for Business, Hoyos and Perez recently purchased a commercial building in Miami that will serve as their flagship furniture showroom and offices for the interior design component of their business.

"With Chase, we were able to secure a mortgage for a property that will house our business headquarters in the U.S. into the future," Hoyos says. "We are creating more and more jobs, which raises all of us–our business and our community. We are very happy to partner with Chase because, even though it's a big bank, the personalized attention and focus they provide continues to help grow small businesses like ours."

Click here to learn more about the products and offerings Chase has for growing and managing small businesses.

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^{1 Source: SBA}