Portside Luxury owners travel worldwide in search of high-end style

By:  | August 19, 2024 |  Features |  Monmouth County

By Bill Clark

Ralph Hanan answered the phone. He clearly was not sitting at a desk based on all the noise in the background. 

There was no time to talk. It was the Friday before Memorial Day, and his business, Portside Luxury, was busy with deliveries to clients making sure that they had the luxury goods necessary to make holiday gatherings memorable. He would have to talk at a later time.

Completely understandable. 

Hanan is now an entrepreneur, operating his business with his wife Danielle on Route 35 in Ocean Township. Before making the jump to owning his own business, Hanan said that he had a clear and specific role in his company as he spent 25 years in the manufacturing industry selling products to national retailers. Now, he is responsible for every aspect of a business that he saw a clear need for in the area. 

“The biggest change was more roles that you need to play without a large organization behind you,” Hanan said. “So as an independent entrepreneur, securing financing, handling all of the shipping and logistics as well as creating relationships both in sales and buying was a lot more responsibility than I was used to.” 

The scope of what Hanan had to oversee was worth the main objective of the role: providing the best products that his clients sought. 

With years of experience in the industry, Hanan gets to research what is available and what makes perfect sense for both residential and commercial properties. Clients come in with a vision for their yards or outdoor space. It is up to Hanan to put a tangible result to that goal. It takes time, patience and honest dialogue, but the effort is worth it when the client is happy. 

“We discuss with them some of the parameters of the project, whether it be budget, timeline, design, or direction,” he said. 

Starting from the basics allows Hanan’s expertise to help the project take shape and it is always from the client’s needs. Materials, form, function all help Hanan dive into what he can order, some of which is available exclusively to him in New Jersey or even the nation. 

This relationship that Hanan builds truly individualizes the buying process for clients and makes each situation a unique task for Hanan as he calibrates how much time he has, product availability and spacing needs. A quick turnaround narrows what Hanan can provide. New construction that won’t be completed for several months gives more options. 

“We have brands that have product vignettes on the showroom floor,” Hanan said. “We have a comprehensive library filled with catalogs, fabric samples, swatches, material samples. So that will enable us to go in and get into the nitty gritty of determining what it is we're looking for to shape their dream backyard.”

With so many options, Hanan is able to provide an experience that creates a unique end product for his many clients. Part pragmatist, part artist, Hanan is able to provide just the right ends for his customers.

“It's really fulfilling creatively,” he said. 

Portside Luxury’s social media is filled with examples of the work that Hanan and his wife have done to provide products that fit their clients’ backyards. High-end lounge chairs and canopies sit alongside idyllic pools and well-manicured lawns and landscapes. Stools of all varieties are pulled up alongside bars and high-top tables. Couches and chairs of all makes and materials are set up in the perfect alignment for conversation and gatherings. No two expressions of Hanan’s craft are similar. 

Although he creates a smooth process for clients, he must also be an adept problem solver. The luxury market itself is not without obstacles. 

“Obviously, we do everything in our power to control certain situations,” he said. 

Hanan is able to stay up to date on what companies worldwide are offering by traveling extensively, which he admits is a perk of the position. 

He and his wife attend the world’s largest trade show in Milan, Italy every year. Many of Hanan’s vendors are based in Spain. The couple have found themselves in Tokyo and Hong Kong to make sure that they can offer the best from around the globe to their clients. 

“The main function is to see and feel new products, as well as continue to strengthen our relationships with all of our brand partners,” he said.

Hanan has posted videos to the business’s social media pages of the trips, and more importantly, the products that he and his wife experience. To be in Europe and judge how a piece looks against the backdrop of historic buildings highlights the uniqueness of the piece once it is shipped and set up in the backyards of Monmouth County and beyond. 

Though a perk, the trips are also crucial to Hanan to keep up with what his clients are experiencing on their travels. Clients will come into Portside Luxury and mention the aesthetic or pieces that impressed them at hotels in Europe or Asia and want to emulate that look in their Monmouth County backyard. When he steps foot into a hotel abroad, Hanan is considering what he is seeing and considering a future client that would want that look for home. 

“It always helps if we're familiar with what they're looking at,” he said.

For his own backyard, Hanan chose to outfit it with a coastal look of Teak wood. His choice is appropriate as he was born and raised in Ocean Township. Though he now resides in West Long Branch, Hanan is part of the community of Ocean Township as a business owner and supporter of local organizations. 

Hanan is involved with the Hillel Yeshiva and is the president of the Community Federation of New Jersey. Together they knock on doors, send out social media blasts, visit schools to educate students on civic engagement and work with parent organizations. Hanan said they are very grassroots about their efforts and practices. 

“We work to get the community registered and voting in all of our local and state elections,” Hanan said. 

Hanan specializing in outdoor furniture and accessories is fitting for his own lifestyle. An avid boater, he and his partner named the business in a nautical-themed allusion to a yachting lifestyle. Hanan and his family are “beach bums in the summer.” They take advantage of campgrounds along the Delaware River or Upstate New York or simply hike along the many trails in New Jersey. All four of Hanan’s children are between ages of 9 and 17 and are active in sports and recreation, with his sons playing basketball and his daughters taking on their mother’s love of dance.

That love of the outdoors influences his business. Seven years into the next phase of his career, Hanan’s goals are focused on the people that turn to him to beautify their living space with his global reach.

“For us, it's all about delivering satisfaction at the end,” he said. “So as long as at the end of the project our client is sitting pretty then it's been a success, and, so far, we have a 100 percent success rate in that department.”