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MEANWHILE, IN ASIA …

Since the start of the pandemic, international travel has been diffifult, and few outside of Asia have had the opportunity to visit the region, writes Casey Loo, president of the International Alliance of Furnishing Publications (IAFP), publisher of FurnitureAndFurnishing. com and the founder of the International Furniture Leadership Awards, who offers a snapshot of the developments there since …

IN CHINA, INTERNATIONALORIENTED FAIRS SIMPLY SWITCHED THEIR FOCUS TO

THE ENORMOUS DOMESTIC MARKET

By CASEY LOO www.furnitureandfurnishing.com

An integral part of the furniture trade ecosystem, furniture exhibitions are sorely missed in Asia. With the exception of China, it’s been more than two years since any major furniture trade fair was held in the region.

China, the world’s second largest economy, boasting a population of 1.4 billion, is itself a huge market. A zero-tolerance policy towards Covid-19, coupled with swift identification and isolation of cases, has allowed the country to carry on much of its activities during the last two years – including the hosting of trade exhibitions.

Closed borders and a lack of foreign exhibitors and visitors? No problem. International-oriented fairs simply switched their focus to the enormous domestic market, with considerable success.

Take the previous edition of CIFF Guangzhou. Despite border closures, its 2021 event spanned 750,000m2 of floor area, with close to 4000 exhibitors. The show welcomed 357,809 professional visitors! Unfortunately, the 2022 event was recently postponed owing to a single case of Omicron discovered at a beauty product fair held at the same venue a week prior to CIFF’s dates. New dates have yet to be announced.

With the lack of trade shows, our magazine did its part to help international buyers with their Asian sourcing efforts. During the last 18 months, we provided free online business-matching services to link buyers with new vendors (especially factories in Southeast Asia). We also worked on projects commissioned by top event organisers to connect their exhibitors with buyers worldwide.

The responses for our premium one-buyer-to-one-seller sessions were overwhelming. This service will carry on, and anyone interested is welcomed to register, at www.furnitureandfurnishing. com/source. With the current dominance of the Omicron variant, many countries across Asia have finally decided to go into the endemic phase and open up in spite of an elevated number of infections. This has led fair organisers in Southeast Asia to confidently set new dates.

As it stands, the following have been announced: Malaysia International Furniture Fair (MIFF), 6-9th July; Indonesia International Furniture Expo (IFEX), 18th-21st August; Vietnam International Furniture Fair (VIFA EXPO), 31st August to 3rd September; and China International Furniture Fair Shanghai (CIFF Shanghai), 5-8th September.

Retail is another matter. According to the majority of leading retailers we’ve spoken to throughout the region, furniture sales were much depressed during the initial months of Covid-19, but business spiked as soon as stores reopened, owing to pent-up demand. Ecommerce picked up sharply and further boomed when work-from-home (WFH) was adopted in many Asian countries.

The Asian region has grown in affluence and looks set to continue on this path in the foreseeable future. A strong manufacturer and exporter of furniture products to the world markets, the region’s ever-growing middle class has fueled increasing demand for quality products, including imports.

Whilst the pandemic has caused havoc and anxiety, the furniture business has turn out alright. We are now returning to normalcy and looking forward to travelling abroad as well as welcoming and meeting customers and friends in person at the few shows to be held across the region very soon. Welcome back!

INDUSTRY PARTNERS

THIS MONTH, WE’RE ASKING …

Paul Wray (Modern Outlook Furniture) I support the British Heart Foundation and am sponsoring a company in the UK who help this charity

Steve Adams (Mattress Online) We are corporate sponsors of both the Sleep Charity and Zarach. We also make ad-hoc charity donations to local and national causes throughout the year

Andy Stockwell (Gardiner Haskins) As a community business, we support local charities and usually choose a new cause to support each year. Personally, I’ve cycled John O’ Groats to Lands End for charity, and also Washington to New Zealand in four days. I was due to kayak 137 miles in six days along the Thames this year, but had to postpone it – we’re due to set off on July 24th to raise funds for MIND, the British Lung Foundation and Parkinsons UK.

Dids Macdonald OBE (ACID) I started One Step at a Time for The Furniture Makers’ Company to raise awareness about our charity – the current master has taken this forward with Step 2 It, and is doing amazingly

Royce Clark (Grampian Furnishers) I’m on the local Cash for Kids board, and this is the main charity the business supports (we prefer to support local charities discreetly)

Rob Walker (Orbital Vision) We buy our milk for the office from a local farm which we sponsor

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR CHARITY?

John Conroy (Morrisofa Europe) I’m a member of The Furniture Makers’ Company, and support the Newcastle West End foodbank where I can

Huw Williams (Toons Furnishers) Toons regularly contributes to small local charities, including the foodbank. I feel it’s important to give something back to the community you trade in. I am the treasurer for the Royal British Legion in our area, and over the years I have raised over £30,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support through various sponsored events

Mike Murray (Land of Beds) Each year we ask our staff to nominate two charities they’d like us to fundraise for throughout the year. These charities usually have a local or personal impact on our staff or their families Mike Whitman (Iconography) I’m heavily involved in running an annual event that raises money through raffles, an auction and games over a long weekend in August. Last year, despite the lingering effects of the pandemic, we were able to raise £10,000, which was split between MIND and the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation

Peter Harding (Fairway Furniture) I’ve been involved with various charities over my 25 years in the business, but as a business, we support a range of charities each year, and encourage our team members to get involved by supporting them with materials, prizes and donations

Steve Pickering (Sussex Beds) Since 1993 I’ve produced and directed a Gang Show in my home town of Hastings. This annual event brings together over 120 local members of the Scout association aged 6-18 who perform in in front of audiences in excess of 2000. The show provides life experiences for all involved, builds confidence, and creates friendships and great memories to take through life

Wendy Martin Green (Peter Green Furnishers) Our charitable works continue to be community based, with events in our coffee shop plus sponsoring a tiny local radio station during the pandemic. I’m a member of the local Rotary Club, while individual team members continue to do their part – MD Mike Devey recently completed a 26-mile trek that raised over £1000 for the Alzheimer’s Society

#392 May 2022

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