Furniture exporters urged to establish domestic niche

Unless the local furniture manufacturers learn to serve the domestic market, there is no way it can take off successfully to compete with the worldwide furniture market, said Blims Fine Furniture President Samie Lim.

Lim whose family has been in the Philippine furniture industry for the last 100 years, said the local furniture manufacturers especially those who are currently serving the export market, should establish a strong penetration first in the domestic arena, as what the Asian neighbor countries are doing.

"We are losing our competitive edge because most furniture makers here do not have strong domestic penetration," Lim said in a press conference recently for the opening of Blims' Fusiontrends exhibit at the Ayala Center Cebu.

Thus, the Philippines cannot grow compared to other Asian neighbors because furniture makers continue to snub the domestic consumers.

In Cebu for example, what is ironic is while Cebu furniture makers are building the province as the "Mila in Asia" for its high-end and well designed furniture products, the domestic market of the Cebuanos are buying imported pieces of furniture, because they don't have access to export-quality Cebu-made furniture.

"Furniture manufacturers must open their minds immediately and consider on building strong domestic market. You're just fooling yourselves if don't have strong penetration in your own backyard," Lim said.

In other countries, like Thailand, Vietnam Lim said furniture manufacturers in these countries are establishing strong domestic market, exporting the same products to other countries, like Philippines.

"The Philippine-made furniture has become less and less competitive because the volume is not so big," he stressed. Lim, who is a former vice president of the Chamber of Furniture Industry in the Philippines (CFIP), added that the country's furniture industry is moving backward.

The Blims' half-a-month exhibit in Asia, would serve as a "wake up call" for Cebu furniture manufacturers as the company brings together good furniture designed from other Asian countries.

"The exhibit will be a wake up call to the local furniture makers, as they would see that our Asian neighbors are also good in design," Lim said.

Lim, has been trying to link with the Cebu Furniture Industry Association (CFIF) to convince members to penetrate to the local market, and let the Filipinos enjoy the world renowned furniture products.

Cebu-made furniture is positioned as one of the most expensive furniture in the world market. According to Lim, while other countries are also trying to capture the high-end furniture market in the world, there is a possibility that Philippine-made furniture products will slowly lose its share.

Other Asian countries have admitted that they cannot compete with China in producing mass-produced furniture products, Lim said because of this Thailand and Vietnam and other countries are now intensifying market positioning to capture the high-end furniture market in the world.

He said there is a big market for furniture in the Philippines, especially now that most Filipinos are mobile, and furniture for condominium and town house type are in the Philippine market.

For Blims', which is one of the country's largest one-stop shop furniture chains, it registered a double-digit growth last year, and Filipino market is now embracing into furniture trends concept, meaning changing furniture depending on the updated trends.

The exhibit, which opened last Friday and will run until August 15 (2005) highlights the "never-before-seen" furniture pieces that can be considered works of art or striking avant-garde conversation pieces. These include; Dancing Belly, Floating Fancy, Honeydew Lounge. Rubik's Side Table, Nonna Lounge and Ottoman, Kimono Chair and the Plasma Lounge, the world's thinnest chair.