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Indeed, the El Naggar name is not foreign to furniture. El Naggar's family has been manufacturing and selling furniture over five generations in Egypt.

Although he studied law, El Naggar never practiced -- instead he joined the family business in Egypt.

It was in the early 1990s that El Naggar set his sights on something bigger. Rather than continuing to export the company's products to the United States through a middle man, El Naggar talked to the American Consulate in Egypt and decided he would attempt to sell the furniture directly to buyers.

He researched major cities in the U.S. -- including Houston, Los Angeles and New York -- before settling on the Bayou City.

"I did research and realized that there was no similar business here in the city," El Naggar says. "Plus, there is a large foreign community here who are more aware about my kind of furniture."

El Naggar's "kind" furniture is "fine art" reproductive furniture from the 14th to 17th centuries, including dining sets, bronzes, tapestries, chandeliers, beds, lamps and handmade rugs. And he correctly identified a market for such goods in Houston.

After about a year of getting settled, El Naggar in October 1995 opened his first furniture business in the U.S. on Ranchester, a small street off of Harwin Drive in southwest Houston.

He filled it with merchandise shipped from his family's factory in Eqypt.

"I didn't wait for customers to come to me," El Naggar, 35, recalled. "I went straight to them."

He loaded up a truck full of French-designed furniture and drove all over town -- and the Southwest, as far as Oklahoma and Louisiana.

It worked. People liked what they saw, and soon El Naggar had to increase the number of shipments he imported from Egypt each month from one to three.

"I literally relied on word of mouth to get my business going, and I got a lot of response," he said. "The furniture was unique and good quality -- not always easy to come by."

By 1998, El Naggar decided to expand both his business and building space. While he initially served as a wholesaler to large retail stores, El Naggar thought it was time to enter the world of retail. He moved into a new, larger space -- about 12,000 square feet -- at 9812 Harwin.

He also decided it was time to build another factory so he wouldn't have to rely solely on his family's facility in Egypt. That same year, El Naggar built a factory in Indonesia.

"There is a lot of wood there, and I worked on improving the quality from wet to dry," he explained. "Plus, there were no termites, and the labor was affordable."

Soon, business was booming and El Naggar was outgrowing his new building. He had also begun importing items from other countries such as Thailand, China, Italy and Iran.

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All the while, El Naggar remained primarily a one-man shop, doing most of the work by himself. He recalls many long hours but says he never lost sight of his goal. To this day, El Naggar says he averages 70-hour work weeks.

Money man

Around the time El Naggar decided to expand from a sole proprietorship, he met lender James Ebrey, now executive vice president of Texas Community Bank in The Woodlands.

Ebrey paid a visit to El Naggar's Harwin store.

"The furniture was stacked to the ceiling and people were constantly in and out. I could see he had a tremendous amount of sales volume," Ebrey remembers. "So I lent him the money to buy three acres of land on Sam Houston Parkway to build that building and to help him fill that place up. He's done wonderful ever since."

Ebrey attributes much of El Naggar's success to his honesty.

"He does exactly what he says and is the quintessential small-business man," Ebrey says.

El Naggar moved into his current location at 5455 W. Sam Houston Parkway North in November 2001. His air-conditioned showroom occupies 10,000 square feet, while his fanned warehouse takes up 50,000 square feet. Both are open to the public.

But the timing of El Naggar's expansion to Sam Houston Tollway seemed ill-fated at first.

The furniture industry, as many others during the time following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was in a slump.

"People just weren't in the mood to buy," El Naggar says.

But it didn't take long for El Naggar to get back on his feet. Business had picked back up by the second quarter of 2002. And today, El Naggar says he has seen revenue grow more than 400 percent, with 65 percent of his business being wholesale and the rest retail.

El Naggar Fine Arts Furniture, which has customers all over the country and in Mexico, services 50 to 60 regular customers each month -- many of them owners of larger stores, as wells smaller stores located in antique malls. His shipments have increased from three to between eight and 12 monthly.

So how did a one-man shop off of Harwin turn into a giant gallery?

"... What I sell is not just regular furniture," El Naggar says. "It's one-of-a-kind, formal furniture that for the most part was built by me, so I can personally guarantee every product."

El Naggar also credits keeping things in the family: His wife of four years, Marva, who is of Mexican descent, works with him and helps with Spanish-speaking customers.

He also acknowledges an informal approach to selling.

"I don't believe in pushing people," he says.

In addition to himself, El Naggar Fine Arts Furniture employs two salespeople, neither of which work on commission. The company employs a total of 14 people.

"I have made sure their salary is good enough so that they don't feel the need to pressure customers," he says of the salespeople. "Most of my customers are here for long-term buys, and I won't sell them something if they don't feel good about it."

At the same time, El Naggar isn't passive.

"... If someone comes in here with the intent to buy, I'm going to sell -- I just make sure it's something that really fits their needs."

El Naggar offers a variety of merchandise with a wide range of prices. His items range from $40 to as much as $12,000.

His customer list has grown as people have taken the time to educate themselves about the store's furniture and the eras from which the pieces are reproduced.

"There was a greater lack of understanding of what exactly I have to offer here," El Naggar says. "But more and more people are taking the time to learn. Most of my customers have a good attitude and a true appreciation for my collection."

As for the future, El Naggar doesn't seem content with a single store. He is eyeing both coasts and the rest of Texas as potential locations for more galleries.

"When you are your own boss, there's both good and bad," he says.