Companies rushing in to furnish new, empty office buildings
Office furniture dealer Poliday also made out. The company won the tender for the "millions of zloty" bank officials said they will spend on new workstations for employees in the 50,000 square-meter building.
Poliday would not comment on the tender. But the significant money PKO plans to spend outfitting its space is indicative of the growth office furniture makers and dealers expect to see in the next few years as scores of new offices buildings open their doors.
The real estate market in Warsaw is exploding. This year alone, 330,000 square meters of new office space will flood the market, according to estimates by real estate firm Jones Lang Wootton. That compares with the 110,000 square meters of new office space that will come on-line in Budapest this year. Another 300,000 square meters of fresh space will be completed by the year 2000, the firm estimates. Companies or government entities have already vouched for roughly 70,000 square meters of that space.
And every single new office needs its share of desks, tables, chairs and shelves - a fact that makes Jaroslaw Iwaszuk glad his company, Jarocinskie Fabryki Mebli, decided several years ago to focus on office furniture.
"In the early 90s there were practically no producers of office furniture in Poland; we have found that niche." Iwaszuk said.
Established in 1945, the company traditionally focused on the market for home furnishings. But Iwaszuk said that office furniture has proven to be far more lucrative - the company saw its revenue jump 26% last year to zl. 77.5 million ($24 million). (See also The List, page 13)
"We are covering the most secure sector of the furniture industry, others are still waiting for the boom on the housing market," Iwaszuk said.
In addition to the overload of new office space, the number of companies in Poland has also grown exponentially - 350% - since the early 1990s. Even small firms need office furniture, and the companies are not necessarily concerned with how much they spend.
"Our customers pay more attention to quality, prices do not seem to be their concern anymore," said Aleksandra Krawsz, marketing director at Potamkin International Polska, which operates Office Depot here.
Along with simply selling furniture, companies are also exploring new areas of business, such as interior design and spatial planning.
"On request we can devise an analysis on how effectively office space is being used, which we currently did for Deloitte & Touche, and how to change it when the employment structure changes," said Aleksandra Krawsz.
Along with a dynamic domestic market, office furniture companies are also experiencing strong demand for their products abroad, particularly eastward.
Large makers such as Jarocinskie Fabryki Mebli and Forte export heavily to Russia, Belarussia and Ukraine. Sales to Eastern Europe accounted for 24% of all furniture exports, while sales to Germany made up 60%, according to a report released by the Warsaw-based Research Institute.
While Germany appears to be the largest consumer of Polish furniture, Iwaszuk said that the numbers give a false impression. He said that many German companies, such as Klose or Febru, bought Polish furniture makers and began production here. While the manufacturing base has shifted, the main market for the products has remained in Germany, where the companies have the most established marketing and distribution networks.
That market, however, is not as important to Polish companies. Western Europe as a whole accounts for only 2-3% of Jarocinskie's sales, while 30% comes from Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
While demand from the eastern markets is deep, trying to deliver products to those countries can be difficult, Iwaszuk said. Import regulations are strict, taxes are high and the borders are daunting, she said. In addition, the eastern markets are not always stable, politically or economically.
"What bothers me very much is not our competitors (here), but the possibility of a collapse in furniture trade with our eastern neighbors," Iwaszuk said.
Despite the adverse conditions, many of the companies are seeing their trade with Russia grow.
Mikomax, a Poznan-based office furniture producer founded in 1991, has seen its revenue rise 30% annually for several years. The company said that much of that growth is fueled by exports to Russia.
To get around difficult import restrictions, Mikomax has set up shop in Russia, assembling its furniture there while it still produces the main parts in Poland, said Jerzy Marcinkowski, the company's marketing director.
"We simply make use of existing former state-owned furniture factories with their excellent staffs to assemble furniture out of our pieces," he said. "In light of Russian law, it is domestic production."
Poliday would not comment on the tender. But the significant money PKO plans to spend outfitting its space is indicative of the growth office furniture makers and dealers expect to see in the next few years as scores of new offices buildings open their doors.
The real estate market in Warsaw is exploding. This year alone, 330,000 square meters of new office space will flood the market, according to estimates by real estate firm Jones Lang Wootton. That compares with the 110,000 square meters of new office space that will come on-line in Budapest this year. Another 300,000 square meters of fresh space will be completed by the year 2000, the firm estimates. Companies or government entities have already vouched for roughly 70,000 square meters of that space.
And every single new office needs its share of desks, tables, chairs and shelves - a fact that makes Jaroslaw Iwaszuk glad his company, Jarocinskie Fabryki Mebli, decided several years ago to focus on office furniture.
"In the early 90s there were practically no producers of office furniture in Poland; we have found that niche." Iwaszuk said.
Established in 1945, the company traditionally focused on the market for home furnishings. But Iwaszuk said that office furniture has proven to be far more lucrative - the company saw its revenue jump 26% last year to zl. 77.5 million ($24 million). (See also The List, page 13)
"We are covering the most secure sector of the furniture industry, others are still waiting for the boom on the housing market," Iwaszuk said.
In addition to the overload of new office space, the number of companies in Poland has also grown exponentially - 350% - since the early 1990s. Even small firms need office furniture, and the companies are not necessarily concerned with how much they spend.
"Our customers pay more attention to quality, prices do not seem to be their concern anymore," said Aleksandra Krawsz, marketing director at Potamkin International Polska, which operates Office Depot here.
Along with simply selling furniture, companies are also exploring new areas of business, such as interior design and spatial planning.
"On request we can devise an analysis on how effectively office space is being used, which we currently did for Deloitte & Touche, and how to change it when the employment structure changes," said Aleksandra Krawsz.
Along with a dynamic domestic market, office furniture companies are also experiencing strong demand for their products abroad, particularly eastward.
Large makers such as Jarocinskie Fabryki Mebli and Forte export heavily to Russia, Belarussia and Ukraine. Sales to Eastern Europe accounted for 24% of all furniture exports, while sales to Germany made up 60%, according to a report released by the Warsaw-based Research Institute.
While Germany appears to be the largest consumer of Polish furniture, Iwaszuk said that the numbers give a false impression. He said that many German companies, such as Klose or Febru, bought Polish furniture makers and began production here. While the manufacturing base has shifted, the main market for the products has remained in Germany, where the companies have the most established marketing and distribution networks.
That market, however, is not as important to Polish companies. Western Europe as a whole accounts for only 2-3% of Jarocinskie's sales, while 30% comes from Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
While demand from the eastern markets is deep, trying to deliver products to those countries can be difficult, Iwaszuk said. Import regulations are strict, taxes are high and the borders are daunting, she said. In addition, the eastern markets are not always stable, politically or economically.
"What bothers me very much is not our competitors (here), but the possibility of a collapse in furniture trade with our eastern neighbors," Iwaszuk said.
Despite the adverse conditions, many of the companies are seeing their trade with Russia grow.
Mikomax, a Poznan-based office furniture producer founded in 1991, has seen its revenue rise 30% annually for several years. The company said that much of that growth is fueled by exports to Russia.
To get around difficult import restrictions, Mikomax has set up shop in Russia, assembling its furniture there while it still produces the main parts in Poland, said Jerzy Marcinkowski, the company's marketing director.
"We simply make use of existing former state-owned furniture factories with their excellent staffs to assemble furniture out of our pieces," he said. "In light of Russian law, it is domestic production."
