Local Croatian Manufactures Answer to IKEA Arrival

Swedish retail giants IKEA will open its first store in Croatia this Thursday at 10:00am offering ‘affordable’ home furniture and accessories, but the local competition are not just going to lie down…

So what lies in store for local Croatian furniture manufactures with IKEA’a arrival, well not good news according to research on transitional countries such as Croatia. Alen Alić, president of the cluster of Croatian furniture manufacturers ‘Drvo‘, does not agree that IKEA’s arrival will signal the beginning of the end for local manufactures, as he explained to daily Tportal.

“I don’t fear from IKEA coming. You can not compare two different categories, fićo (car) and Mercedes. They stress only low prices. The prices of our products match the ratio of investment and what you get,” explains Alić.

On its web page www.hrvatskinamjestaj.hr offers 1,500 products, making custom furniture to the designs and desire of clients. The cluster has around 20 Croatian manufacturers involved and their number is growing every day. The only thing which they lack is marketing and PR, as they will guarantee that they can produce every product from an international producer 10% cheaper that their price. All that the client needs is a photo, price and specific dimensions and knowledge of materials used.

The cluster is set to start a marketing campaign as it aims to keep a firm grip on market share that IKEA will no doubt try to grab.