Furniture

There were crowds in the pavilion 6A of the Poznań International Fair (PIF) three months before the Polish national fair „Meble“ and nine weeks before the M.O.W. fair in Germany, which is so important for the market of volume transactions. Although, due to the tense economic situation, the Poznań company Survey Marketing + Consulting Sp. z o.o. received fewer exhibitors’ applications, at the same time the trade visitors’ attendance was high and inspiring, thus confirming an unchanging interest in the Furnifab on the part of the furniture branch representatives from various countries.




Presence of important decision-makers




The attendance was high on the first day of the Fair, and even higher on the second. The fair manager, Iwona Cerba of the Survey company, commented on it: „The fair was visited by the important people of the branch; the representatives of the big Polish furniture producers were present for two of the three fair days. One of our regular exhibitors from Belgium evaluated the FurniFab 2009 to have been ‘the best fair in the last three years’. Also, some exhibitors who came here for the first time praised the FurniFab: ‘The fair was a success, with the right people.’ ”

The event, initiated in 2003, has gained the reputation of a famous B2B fair for the suppliers for upholstery and seating furniture industries from Poland and Central-East European countries over the years. The target group of the FurniFab, which focuses on the attractive volume transaction, are in the first place the people with decision-making competences from the purchase, design and product management departments. At present, the FurniFab fair is visited by experts from Poland, Baltic countries, Russia, Germany, the Benelux countries and southern Europe. This year the number of visitors from Ukraina was considerably smaller because of the economic conditions in this country, while the Czech guests’ attendance reached the last year’s standard.



A wider range of products




A versatile offer, creative design ideas and new technological solutions were presented at the Furnifab 2009 fair. Beside traditional product segments such as cover materials, semi-finished products, upholstery and laminated materials, inlets and cushions, fabrics, microfiber materials and natural and artificial leather, Furnifab 2009 also presented new product groups like foam rubber and expanded plastics, felts, mattress ticking, upholstery blanks, spring units, upholstery frames, spring bases, spring cores, spiral nets, furniture wheels, threads for sewing, sewing machines, and machines and software for cutting.

Iwona Cerba looks upon this year’s fair with optimism: „Our exhibitors at the Furnifab seized the opportunity to face a keener and keener competition and to present an individual know-how of their companies to the clients. Consequently, the FurnfFab as an international specialist platform may function as a source of new impulses for the furniture industry in the future.” There will be a good deal of such opportunities again in Poznań between the 2nd and the 4th of March, 2010.