Importer finds treasures on the road less traveled
Suad Cano, owner of Berbere World Imports, next to antique doors from India and a Buddha from Indonesia.
Most travelers like to pick up a few souvenirs on their trips: a tchotchke here, a piece of art there.
Suad Cano is no ordinary traveler. The Venice resident regularly crisscrosses Africa, Asia and the Middle East to collect one-of-a-kind pottery, furniture, textiles and other artifacts. That’s yielded a bounty of both lore and loot — enough to fill a 50,000-square-foot warehouse.
She’s taken that gypsy spirit, mad negotiation skills and the passion of an intrepid entrepreneur and turned it into a successful business importing furniture and home decor items.
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“You can feel the spirit here,” Cano says of Berbere World Imports, the family-owned Culver City business she started with her husband more than 30 years ago. “These are the kinds of things you can find if you get out of the cities of any country.”
It is the thrill of the hunt and relationships with shopkeepers she describes as “like family” that keep her going.
“I always venture outside of where I’m supposed to be,” said Cano, whose buying trips include stops in Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Thailand and Morocco, “but I don’t go into areas where there is trouble. I stay away from that.”
She has a keen eye and intuitive sense for finding hidden treasures. On one trip, she spotted a couple sitting on an old daybed outside their small home in Thailand and bought it after sharing an afternoon and several cups of tea.
“I go into these stores that have been there for generations,” she says of favorite resources halfway around the world, “and sometimes I find a piece way in the back, covered by hundreds of things, and I ask if I can see it. They look at me like I’m crazy, but they get it out, and that’s the piece I wanted.”
During a recent trip to Indonesia, “I saw a small shop on the side of the road in a residential area and asked my driver to stop,” she said. “This little, dinky shop had the most beautiful sculpture you had ever seen ... like museum pieces.”
Which is exactly what attracts interior designers like Cliff Fong. The owner of L.A. design firm Matt Blacke Inc. has been shopping at Berbere for more than a decade.
“It’s a great resource for primitive furniture and decorative items,” he says.
“Right now, she has these amazing, hand-carved stone vessels that can be used for planters or sinks.... To me, there’s nothing else like it in Los Angeles.”
Beyond the vintage doors, pottery and tribal inspiration, Fong credits a big part of the sprawling showroom’s appeal to the experience itself.
“You get a sense of discovery going through her warehouse,” he said.
“That’s really meaningful as a designer.... It’s nice to bring some surprises home to a client.”
Cano’s items range from $10 to $15 for candle holders, pots and decorative items to $6,000 for mother-of-pearl side tables and dressers from Syria and India. About 80% of her warehouse features imported goods; the rest is sourced locally or custom-ordered.
With such a globe-trotting lifestyle, does Cano have a favorite place to visit?
“There is no favorite country, because each one has its own characteristics,” she said. “The people are different, the languages, the food. You just fall in love with all of that and accept it and appreciate it — then bring it home.”
