Last month, severe floods impacted Central Europe, leading to severe damages in Romania, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland. We talk to Krzysztof Dukat, Managing Director of the Polish company Notto to discuss the impact the floods had, and other market challenges in Europe right now.
The flood in Poland last month must have had quite an impact. How is everything in Poland right now?
'The flood that struck the south of Poland in September had catastrophic consequences for both residents and infrastructure. Intense rainfall, caused by a Genoa low, led to rising water levels in rivers, destroying hundreds of homes and inundating many towns. Material losses are estimated to exceed 2,5 billion euros, with still the situation particularly dire in some regions, especially Lower Silesia.
Luckily, Notto is located in a region, where we had no direct impact of the flood. Unfortunately, there are some companies connected with furniture business in Lower Silesia which were in a much worse situation. For example, one of the Schattdecor plants, which was suddenly in the middle of the river and had to be closed for a few days. We also heard about some small furniture manufacturers, which suddenly lost their lifetime achievement.'
The market in Europe in general is going through a challenging fase. Especially in Germany right now, with the closing of imm cologne as a result. Do you notice the difficult market in Germany?
'Of course, the news about the cancellation of imm cologne could come as a surprise to many people. But on the other hand, it reflects the current situation in the furniture business in Germany and should not be a surprise for the companies operating there. Notto has been strongly connected with this market for many years and we've directly observed a decline in orders for a few months. Still, the most important problem is the much lower number of customers in furniture stores.'
Brussels Furniture Fair is coming up soon. Is there better hope for the Benelux market?
'The Benelux market is one of the most important destinations for furniture manufactured by Notto. Last years we could see regular sales growth there. But recently, we can feel sales slowdown there too.
Every fair is a chance to meet current customers or to find new groups interested in Notto's offer. So, we are going to Belgium with the same assumptions and expectations. We want to emphasise also, that these are bad times, even for good and healthy market players like Notto. Last year we invested a lot in energy savings, in new machinery, in robotics, so we are still able to be a great supplier for the furniture market in Europe.
For the fair, Notto has prepared new upholstery furniture directed at clients with taste from the Benelux market. We hope that some samples of the new Notto offer will be available in many furniture stores in Europe soon.'
You can visit Notto at Brussels Furniture Fair, in hall 9, booth 105.
More information:
Notto
+48 606-225-141
[email protected]
www.notto.eu
Poland