Dan Sucu, chairman of Mobexpert group of firms with operations in the furniture industry, says there is very strong competition on the low and very high price segments of the market and no competition on the medium-price segment where the company is present.
Nevertheless, the number of true furniture discounters is very small. In European, there are no networks specialising in discount furniture, but rather regional retailers that are not present domestically with their own stores.
"In the following years, Romanian players will also try to develop on this segment, but there will be also one or two regional specialists attempting to enter the Romanian market," believes Sucu.
On the other hand, the market is not strong enough to sustain a genuine discounter.
About Mobexpert, Sucu says it is positioned on the medium and a little above-medium segments. "We, at Mobexpert, have decided clearly what our price range is. We have defined our customers, we've studied as much as we could the type of offer appealing to them and we're developing the respective type of furniture. It's obvious that by narrowing the market down to a certain niche, we are losing other important customer segments, but we are assuming this," said Sucu.
Some markets agree with a retailer exhibiting all price categories, while others are reluctant to this type of trade, adds Sucu. In Romania, it will not be until Kika arrives on the market that Romanians' purchasing behaviour with relation to these types of retail will show.
Mobexpert group, the biggest player in the furniture industry, mainly includes 10 firms in the retail area, 8 furniture plants, 6 import firms and 3 services firms.
After having launched its first large store outside Romania, last year, Mobexpert's expansion plans this year entail 8m-euro investments in four large stores domestically.
Funds necessary for expansion will be largely the company's own funds.
As regards furniture prices, Mobexpert chairman believes they will rise by 5-7% annually.
Mobexpert group last year generated 168m-euro turnover, up 12% from 2006, with the group expecting turnover to rise by 10% this year, in line with market growth, to 185m euros. Exports dropped by 11% last year compared with the previous year and Mobexpert expects the tendency to maintain.
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