IKEA, the Swedish furniture retailer, plans to export Turkish-made furniture globally to complement its production in Sweden, Poland, and Romania. Currently, IKEA exports around $500 million worth of Turkish products annually, such as ceramics and textiles, through its stores and aims to increase this to $900 million in five years. The company's Turkish general manager stated they could reach this target if Turkish furniture was available in more IKEA stores internationally in the near future.
1. IKEA tosendlocalfurnitureabroad
IKEA, theSweden-basedglobalretailchain, is
preparingtolaunchgoodsproducedbyTurkishfurnituremanufacturersacrossinternationalmarkets, accordingto a
top executive of thelocalunit.
“Turkey is one of theleadingmarkets in terms of yieldinggrowthfor IKEA.
Wearealreadyplanningtoopentwomorestores in thenextfiveyears, in additiontothefive IKEA
storeswealreadyhave here,” said General Manager Fuat Atalay at a pressmeeting in Istanbul yesterday.
“WeaimtoexportTurkishfurniturewithSwedishdesignsandmarketing it globally,
alongwithproductionfromSweden, Poland andRomania,” Atalay toldthe Daily News. A
fewmanufacturersareundergoing a qualitytestingperiodforthecompany, he added.
TheSwedishfirmalreadyexports a number of Turkishproducts, includingceramics, china,
textileproductsandaccessories. Total exports of Turkishproductsthrough IKEA reachedapproximately $500
millionlastyear, upfrom $200 million in 2003, accordingto Atalay. “Weaimtoincreasethisvolumeto $900 million
in five-years’ time,” he said. ThecompanycouldeasilyreachthistargetifTurkishfurniturewereto be availablefrom
IKEA shops in nearfuture.
As of Novemberlastyear, the lira depreciationsupportedthecountry’soverallexportsperformance, particularly in
thefurnituresector, Chief Economist of BGC Partners Özgür Altuğ said.
Furnitureproduction in Turkey posted a 15.3percentrise in November, validatingthelevel of
domesticeconomicactivityandsuccess in exportscomparedwiththesamemonthlastyear, Altuğ
toldinvestorsrecently. However, Atalay saidthecompanywasaffectedbythelira’sweakperformance as it
depreciatedabout 18 percentlastyearagainstthe U.S. dollar. “Still, wehave not changedourpricesannounced in
Septemberlastyearfor 2012,” he said.
2. Atalay saidtheSwedishcompanyperformsbetter in Europeanstorescomparedwiththose in Turkey, despite an
ongoingeconomiccrisisacrossthecontinentandslowdown in domesticdemand.
http://www.sofalife.com/read_blog/furniture-news/ikea-to-send-local-furniture-abroad-42.html