Everyone knows there is a recession on at the moment. Every few years we get one – some worse than others – but the current one is rather bad in terms of what we have seen before.
And as always, certain portions of the market are struggling more than others. The furniture market is one of these because furniture isn’t the type of item that we buy if we don’t really need to. You might need a new nest of tables for example, but if you cannot scrape together the money to get the nest you really want, you will probably make do for a while.
The biggest news in recent months has of course been the demise of the huge furniture company MFI. A recent interview with the chief executive of IKEA, Anders Dahlvig, was very interesting because he cast his own views on the way the furniture market is going at the moment.
He has plenty of experience in this market, which is why he doesn’t seem to be too worried about the state of the economy and the recession in the UK at the moment. He has obviously seen it before and he knows that any and all businesses rise and fall naturally. They go through cycles depending on whether we are in a good position or a bad position.
His statement did point to the fact that IKEA’s revenues are not as good as they have been in the past. But he also pointed out that this has happened in the past and over time things will get better again. The key is obviously to ride out the recession as comfortably and easily as you possibly can without losing too much money in the process.
Anders understands that furniture is something of a luxury item at many times. Obviously if your table or chairs fall apart, then you would need to replace them immediately. But when it comes to items that are meant more for occasional use, such as a nest of tables for example, things are very different. You don’t need a nest of tables to get by in your everyday life. You need them to complete the look of your home, or provide an extra surface to put things on. And so you will hold back on buying them if at all possible.
The main thing to remember is that all the furniture companies who are still in business are clamouring to get hold of as much of the business that is out there as they can. The more they can get, the better their own revenues will be. So watch out for special offers, discounts and other incentives that are designed to get you to buy from them.
If you are going to be in the market for a new nest of tables soon, watch out for these offers because they could save you a lot of money. Alternatively get something a little different – that could save you money too. And the furniture market will no doubt be grateful for your business.