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A long-time High Point Market exhibitor, Ngala Trading will open a Dallas Market Center showroom ahead of Dallas Design Week.

Ngala Trading Company, the largest importer of luxury African home design products, is opening its third showroom in the U.S. and has selected the Dallas Market Center as the location. The company already has a New York City showroom and a High Point Market space in the Suites at Market Square.

Widely recognized for its hand-cut leather chandeliers and various other lamps and lighting fixtures, Ngala Trading also offers categories such as furniture, mirrors, outdoor furniture, poufs, fabric, and tabletop accessories.

Deciding the time was right to increase Ngala’s brand exposure, the company founders are opening the Dallas Market Center showroom on September 15, ahead of Dallas Design Week, which runs alongside ArchLIGHT Summit and ASID’s GATHER: Catalyst national conference. Ngala Trading can be found within The Gallery at the Interior Home + Design Center (Suite GL80).

The Ngala showroom in Dallas will be open daily and focused on a curated mix of luxury African home furnishings. Featuring new designs as well as best-sellers, the product assortment will include hand-crafted leather lighting and furniture, ostrich fluff upholstery, and sustainable home décor accents.

“The Dallas design community, and Texas as a whole, has wholeheartedly embraced our brand from the very beginning 10 years ago,” said Lawson Ricketts, creative director and co-founder of Ngala Trading.

“Having a permanent space in Dallas is the logical next step in ensuring our product is readily available to designers who need to experience our items in person. The showroom space allows Ngala Trading to be an easily accessible resource for designers who need items quickly while also connecting with new designers we yearn to meet,” he explained.

The company’s roots

For those who don’t know Ngala Trading’s history, the idea for the business started with the renovation of co-founders Lawson Ricketts and Nick Geimer’s historic Art Nouveau home in Johannesburg, South Africa, where they were living.

According to Ngala’s website, the lengthy renovation experience introduced them to numerous local craftsmen in wood and metalwork and inspired Ricketts to delve deeper into interior design. In 2012, he opened the store Plaid Cabbage Interiors in Johannesburg, which featured his unique blend of “modern American design staples with an African twist.”

By 2016, Ricketts and Geimer had established a North American company in New York City under the name Ngala Trading Company and began showing products at trade shows in New York City and Atlanta.

Three years later, in 2019, they opened Ngala’s flagship showroom in the New York Design Center. And by 2022, the company had outgrown its existing warehouse and acquired a separate10,000-sq.-ft. facility to accommodate the expanding business.   

In addition to Dallas Design Week this week, Ngala Trading will be showing at next month’s High Point Market in Suites at Market Square in The Salon section (G-6032) on the ground floor.

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