IKEA Romania retail manager pessimistic about furniture market

Cornel Oprişan, retail manager of IKEA Romania, the biggest furniture retailer domestically in terms of sales, is extremely pessimistic about the furniture market, which he sees as falling in the next seven years.
Oprişan's estimates are quite moderate as regards IKEA store, too, stating he "cannot see how it could be registering growth" in the following year.
"I expect the furniture market to recover as late as after six or seven years as it is closely tied to the constructions market. After real estate projects are started, it will take another two or three years until they're finished and then a number of years until the market hits the 2008 level," Oprişan said.
Products worth almost 1bn euros are sold on the market annually, but in 2010 the decline could reach 20%, according to Oprişan's estimates. At IKEA Romania, the trend pointed to stagnation, but Oprişan chose not to provide further information about sales.
For September 2010-August 2011 financial year, IKEA comes up with offers of products at half their price on Wednesdays and Thursdays, possibly indicating an attempt at reviving sales during the week.