Can things be worse for furniture market in 2011?
The Romanian furniture market, an almost 1 billion-euro business per year, will see a 15-20% decline in 2010. The leading players had promotional offers, offering zero-interest rate instalments, and extended the offer of accessories in order to keep the sales from declining further, writes Business Construct magazine, which appears this week together with Ziarul Financiar.
The second year of business decline appears to have brought
managers in furniture retail to life, with campaigns being for the
first time echoed on the market.
Managers were forced to come up with solutions after the VAT hike
in the summer dealt a blow to the economy, with sales in the
industry already being affected. In the absence of aggressive
promotional campaigns and of new projects, the year 2010 could have
been disastrous for the furniture market.
The 15-20% decline was significant, but it was to be expected. Most
players expected this decline at the beginning of the year,
although there were also those who dared to hope for a slight
rebound in the second half of 2010.
"We thought the first few months of 2010 would be bad, and then
good times would come, but there came the VAT hike, which upset all
forecasts. Without a major change in the way of doing business and
without aiding consumption, which should come either from a
renegotiation with the bank or from a VAT cut, I don't see any
reason why 2011 should be better," believes Dan Şucu, owner of
Mobexpert, the biggest player on the furniture market (production
and retail).