Everett couple finds good business in hotel liquidation

Published 11:17 pm Sunday, May 3, 2009

Who: Harold Laginikoro of National Hotel Liquidators.

What: A company that liquidates used hotel furniture, receives and installs new furniture, manages hotel inventories and stores goods in its warehouse. When a hotel has been sold, the new owners typically do at least a modest amount of remodeling — adding new carpets, new tables or beds. National Hotel Liquidators removes the old furniture, puts in new and sells what goods it can.

Where: 2216 36th St., Everett

Founded: November 2004 but added a 39,000-square-foot warehouse in May 2008.

Service area: Nationwide, but the company does a lot of work in the state.

Employees: Up to 10 workers

Challenge in last 12 months: Adding a new warehouse just a year ago both posed problems and created new opportunities for Laginikoro’s business. Just six months later, the recession set in and National Hotel Liquidators saw a downturn in business. However, Laginikoro has seen an upswing in requests since January.

Example of work: The company recently installed 885 televisions in the Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle.

Notable: Laginikoro, who is originally from Fiji, owned a landscaping business for more than eight years before making the leap into hotel liquidation. A deeply religious man, Laginikoro believes “life is ours to make it what we want it to be.”

Advice to other small business owners: “Do what you do best and stay in it no matter what comes.”