Romania’s furniture output is enjoying considerable growth. Exports to the UK, Romania’s fourth-largest export market, rose by an impressive 32% in 2013, and a further 8.2% during the first five months of this year. Keen to discover what lay behind this success, In September, Furniture News editor Paul Farley attended the BIFE-SIM exhibition in Bucharest to give its offering a closer inspection …
Having heard tales of the region’s dense forests and long history of woodworking craft, I expected to find an overwhelmingly parochial offering of richly-finished, intricately-carved solid wood cabinet upon my arrival in – a surprisingly warm – Bucharest.
Indeed, while some great examples of this were evident, I actually encountered a real variety of styles and product types, from modern cabinet and soft furnishings to home accessories and kitchen solutions. And, far from purely classical, this offering was rarely far removed from Western European in character.
Given the increasingly attractive proposition of sourcing from Eastern Europe in general, it’s unsurprising that more and more UK buyers are turning to Romania – particularly for the country’s upholstery, which, according to Aurica Sereny, president of the Romanian Furniture Manufacturers’ Association (APMR), is eminently flexible in form, and generally FR-compliant. “The UK is a good market for Romanian exporters,” comments Aurica, “and we are well prepared for British buyers.”
Following an industry schism, the separate BIFE and SIM events came together three years ago to become Romania’s most representative gathering of furniture and furniture-manufacturing entities. In global terms, BIFE-SIM is still a fairly small event – a number of the country’s major players having outgrown its confines. It is also, in some respects, a little underdeveloped. However, BIFE-SIM adequately reflects a market rapidly coming of age.
Aurica tells me that around 85% of the furniture suppliers exhibiting at BIFE-SIM are members of the association, which has its own concerns right now – increasing domestic sales, ensuring the rapidly-decreasing levels of quality timber end up as furniture rather than chipboard, and trying to maintain business with the Ukraine – yet there are plans to better engage the UK market.
After a significant export promotion drive in 2013, which saw several APMR members exhibit in Birmingham, Aurica is considering taking a delegation to London’s May Design series next year.
One exhibitor set to return to Birmingham in January next year is Simex, a solid wood manufacturing giant which employs around 1600 workers in north-west Romania. The Simex stand does feature some of that ornately-carved, somewhat imposing cabinet furniture I alluded to earlier – but it’s balanced by more contemporary ranges that would be to mainstream tastes in the UK.
“I think that the UK can be a good market for us, but it needs a very specific product,” says commercial director Daniel Samsudan. “We can deliver that – a company with the capacity to make this [classical, carved] style of furniture has the capacity to make any style of furniture.”
Daniel explains that the 50-year-old Simex boasts the product quality, delivery terms and overall business stability that UK buyers look for in an import partner. “Romania has good prices for the UK market,” says Daniel – they may be around twice that of Asian manufacturers, but “if you want to drive a Mercedes, you must pay more!”
Nearby, Famos, previously a supplier to Bevan Funnell and YP Furniture, is displaying a mix of dining and living furniture, in varying varieties of oak – from wide-grained rustic-looking Balkan/Turkish oak models to the species we’re more accustomed to seeing.
Sessio, an upholstery producer based in Cluj, is exhibiting for the tenth year running, offering contract and domestic seating, 90% of which is exported to Western Europe – so far, excluding the UK, due to FR demands.
Adjacent to the Romanian design showcase stands Sophia, a manufacturer of ready-made and bespoke home furnishings including curtains, covers, bedcovers and upholstery covers. Sophia attended both Interiors UK and Spring Fair in 2013 as part of an export drive that also covered Paris and Milan, as the company attempted to impress the quality and commercial strength of its operation upon potential franchisees.
Sophia’s furnishings portfolio offers styles from classic and modern to shabby chic, incorporating floral patterns and regal designs, plus antique-look finishes. It is presented well – the stand itself is indicative of a £10,000 franchise concept – and supported by localised PoS and inventive packaging concepts, often finished off with flourishes such as hand-made decorative accessories.
“English customers like my products because they are different,” explains general manager Anamaria Stefan, who, due to the recent closure of Sophia’s principal franchise outlet in Okehampton, Devon, is seeking new franchise opportunities in the UK.
“The big difference between the Romanian and UK markets is that, in the UK, people want to buy bespoke – and we can offer very good prices for this, as well as fast delivery and affordable manufacture,” she explains. “Usually, our franchise managers begin as happy customers – when they’re dealing with us, they don’t need to worry about the logistics, they just need to be in love with beautiful products!”
Earlier this year, I reported on the foil-finished cabinet and low-slung upholstery present at Poznan’s Meble Polska, and the fans it was steadily attracting. BIFE-SIM’s offering is less specialised, but it shares much of the DNA of the Polish output – such as sprawling, low upholstery, and ingeniously-presented MDF solutions. However – as in the case in Poland – UK buyers are more likely to appreciate the manufacturing potential behind the products far more than the articles on display.
For an up-and-coming event, the show’s timing is questionable – falling in mid-September (19th-23rd next year), there are plenty of national and international exhibitions vying for the trade’s attention – but I’d recommend any buyers exploring new markets in Eastern Europe to take notice of BIFE-SIM.
This report was published in the October issue of Furniture News magazine.
