Feedback of participants and visitors
- Year after year, the Mebel exhibition becomes even more beautiful, diverse and of better quality. I am glad that the domestic furniture products it presents are quite competitive. The head of a company I have been talking to said that 25% of their products were exported.
Allow me to profusely thank the Expocentre management and everyone who has worked to organiûe this exhibition. I am perfectly aware of the titanic effort it takes to accommodate needs of every manufacturer. Products need to be transported here and arranged beautifully. Tastes differ, but you are solving these problems in a patient, very delicate, and professional fashion.
I have asked exhibitors how much Expocentre satisfies their needs. They simply pointed to the showcase and said, “We are quite happy. We are being treated in a very patient and delicate manner, and are offered professional assistance in arranging everything.” The exhibition’s significance for consumers can hardly be overstated, either. I can see numerous people who come here. This is a chance to take a look at the furniture, touch, sit down, enquire about its best features from the manufacturer, and visualise how this furniture will look in the apartment. There is no better advertising for manufacturers than this show.
- The Mebel exhibition is our main event and focal point. All members of the Association believe this is the only exhibition where we summarise what the industry has done over the year. The exhibition has fully established itself, and we are planning to continue its development.
Cooperation with Expocentre is very convenient considering that everything we plan and want to start up comes true. For instance, at this show we are implementing the Furnished Apartments project that aims at renting finished and furnished apartments. This is what the population needs. So, we have decided to use the exhibition as an occasion to show construction companies that domestic furniture companies can provide furniture products on an industrial scale, at factory prices, without sales markups, and with a 50% retail discount. Construction companies seem to be very interested. I think that the number of furniture companies participating in this project will be much bigger next year.
- We are one of the biggest domestic manufacturers of cabinet furniture, so we deem it our duty to take part in the main, landmark event of the year, the Mebel international exhibition that takes place at Expocentre every November. Each year our stand grows in size and improves its looks. We set furniture fashion trends, we are proactive, and we even create consumer preferences.
The exhibition has just begun, and our stand had over 500 visitors on the first two days. Mostly, these are current and future partners. We have been visited by our rivals, as well. It was a pleasant surprise to see that most potential clients came to our stand and said, “We want to work with you.”
- Traditionally, this exhibition is a reward for every furniture company, and it is a great pleasure to be an exhibitor. There is no other exhibition like this in Russia. This is the central show. Participants are able to make forecasts for 2020. Hopefully, we will be busy next year, in particular, thanks to this show. I have no doubt that after this exhibition we will be working all through January. We are already receiving orders for that month. We will be getting new orders and will find new dealers next year. This is the result of the work that we do here.
The current market conditions require a new approach. I hope we have found it. It implies a broad product range and technologically complex uses of wood. In the medium+ pricing segment, our products are competing with Italian furniture, which is popular in our country. We do not have to pay customs duties or cover costs of transportation from Europe, which gives us an advantage.
We supply furniture to all cities of Russia, as well as to the Baltic republic, and also have partners in Kazakhstan.
All of us feel conservative, we want to touch things instead of looking at them on the screen of the computer monitor. People will continue to visit the exhibition for networking and exchanging views. Meetings are necessary besides phone calls and the Internet. We are looking forward to this event all through the year. This is our moment of truth. Hopefully, we will come to the exhibition with our new products next year.
- We have been participating in this exhibition for over a decade. Each year it brings us new, promising clients. The concept of our participation in this year’s event is modern furniture collections, which means we are slightly deviating from classics.
This time, our stand is light, weightless, which signifies the readiness of our company to develop and grow not just in the domestic market but also with an eye on exports. This exhibition shows that clients from Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and other CIS countries are interested in our products.
For us, this exhibition is primarily a chance to demonstrate production capacities. We have three factories, which make furniture ranging from budget to medium and medium+ products, both classic and based on modern market trends. We are demonstrating our new products to existing and prospective clients at this exhibition.
We like Pavilion Forum very much, it is cozy, so we try to have our stand here every year. I think we will remain an exhibitor. This exhibition stands are for status, name, opportunity, and development.
-We have decided to open a group stand showcasing products of four Vologda companies at this year’s edition. The group stand allows enterprises to demonstrate a broader range of products and attract more clients. Our stand has been attended by representatives of various parts of Russia, from Crimea to Vladivostok, as well as by foreign visitors, including ones from Germany and Italy. We have a heavy flow of visitors, this is our target, quality audience that asks the right questions and knows what it wants.
I’d like to thank Expocentre for quality preparations and good management of the international event. Participation in such trade shows enables companies to get feedback from their clients, learn about new products of the coming season, see achievements of their rivals, and plan the future policy. There is no doubt that participation in Mebel is a great experience for our companies. We plan to continue our participation in the Expocentre furniture exhibition in the future.
- We have taken part in the Mebel exhibition for ten years, from 2002 till 2012, and took a break afterwards. We decided to participate again this year considering that our products are popular and successful on the Russian market and, especially, that Mebel is a significant show for both Moscow and entire Russia. We are visited by regional representatives here. The location in the city centre, next to a metro station, is a huge advantage of this trade show. The exhibition has become better and more convenient from the point of view of services.
I am satisfied with results of the exhibition. I think many Italian companies could come back to Mebel next year for a broader representation of Italy. This is important.
- This is our first group stand of furniture manufacturers at Mebel 2019. Hopefully, our representation will continue. Some companies have never taken part in the exhibition before, while others have been here on their own.
We are restoring our relations with the Mebel exhibition. The Yaroslavl region has quite a few furniture manufacturers. They are based in Pereslavl-Zalessky, Uglich, and Yaroslavl. We hope that participation backed up by the Export Support Centre has been effective enough considering that companies have minimal expenses. The entire registration process, stand rental, and equipment used during the exhibition are paid for by the Centre. Companies spend less on their promotion. This is their chance to speak to exporters taking into account that the exhibition has an international status. Our companies bring contracts and clients from the exhibition. Our stand has been visited by wholesale companies, salons, and individuals. We have met with representatives of Kazakhstan, Armenia, Germany, and Belarus. This is useful.
Our position is convenient. We are satisfied with our place at Mebel. Our companies are pleased. They do not compete with one another; instead, they are cooperating. The same client has been passed from one company to another. One company is focused on small forms, another supplies cabinet furniture, and the third one sells office chairs, and all that is convenient for the client who wants to fully furnish one’s apartment or room.
We will sum up results of the exhibition later, but I can already tell after three days that the exhibition is fruitful. We hope to apply for registration of the same companies as participants next year, and other companies, which are not familiar with our services yet, may also join in. We are participating in many Expocentre’s trade shows, and will be doing so. We have a variety of clients and partners, and the trade shows held at Expocentre also address various areas.
- This is our debut. We have never been a participant in the exhibition like this one. Speaking from the preliminary experience, we have been quite successful. We had had long debates and decided that our stand should look like a model salon under our brand. Our task is not to sell any furniture here, but to find new partners and broaden the geography of our sales. Our potential partners can see how our brand store should look like. So, we are selling franchise, and most of our franchisees are designers and furniture store owners. The exhibition has a broad geography of visitors who come from all over Russia and even from abroad. We have had many curious visitors from the Baltic states, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.
Those in the furniture business come here from all over the country to take a look at new products and new market actors, to make new decisions, and to lay a foundation of one’s business for next year.
We are practically ready to come here again next year. The preliminary results are impressive. Thanks to this exhibition, we expect to reach a new level in the development of our business.
- The group stand organised by the Udmurtia Development Corporation with the support of the Government of the Udmurtia Republic represents seven manufacturers of cabinet and upholstered furniture. The Udmurtia Development Corporation has given the opportunity to manufacturers by covering their participation fees. They required nothing of us but to come here and bring our products.
This is the first exhibition for our factory. We can see that the results are great. The exhibition really pays off. I can assure you that we will come here as an independent exhibitor in a year or two.
We had plenty of private buyers on the first day who helped us understand the demand for our products in the Moscow region. It was an interesting experience. We received clients from Kazakhstan and Belarus on the second day. We are set to promote our products outside Russian. We are very interested in exports. Different regions come to see us every day. It is interesting to network and gain new experience and feedback.
We have brought here our budget and budget+ products which are in very high demand today. We generate business leads, speak with people and process data after the show is over. We are so busy that we skip our lunch and have no chance to sit down and rest. But we feel comfortable. Our location is very convenient and we are visited by plenty of people. We have no doubt that we will continue to participate in the exhibition.