“Even though manufacturing is starting to look like some sort of adventure, we want to have a solid manufacturing base,” Dan Sucu told Ziarul Financiar in an interview.
The Mobexpert group, which posted EUR114 million revenue last year, has nine plants in four manufacturing centers: Bucharest, Dej, Targu Mures and Suceava (southern, northwestern, central and northern Romania), which operate a 50%-80% capacity. Mobexpert also operates an over 30-store retail network.
Sucu’s statement comes just days before his planned campaign to support Romanian products he will conduct in his stores to celebrate Romania’s National Day (December 1).
“We all have the obligation to show there are valuable things in Romania, which are ignored (…) I regretfully see Romanians’ lack of self-confidence. I sometimes see it in my own employees during negotiations. I think this is becoming a bigger and bigger problem and something needs to be done,” the businessman said.
“I made this decision to celebrate the National Day differently. Before being businesspeople we are Romanians and we must find a way for the national day to become a day to celebrate.”
Sucu estimates that products made in Romania will account for 75% of his company’s sales by 2015 from the current 66%.
“We have a variety of products we buy from all over the world and I can say we have no reason to be ashamed of Romanian products, which are at least as good or even better than the rest,” Sucu said.
The businessman hopes to see other local entrepreneurs promote Romanian products, as other countries do with their own.
However, he admits that few people buy Romanian when it comes to durable goods.
“There are three rather clear currents right now: the very few who choose a product because it is Romanian, those who won’t even consider buying such products, and the vast majority of the customers who don’t care where a product is made.”
He hopes the number of those buying Romanian would increase once the campaign progresses.
Things are completely different on the fast moving consumer goods market, where modern retailers have been carrying more and more Romanian products to meet rising demand over the last few years.
Dan Sucu expects Mobexpert to post growth at the end of 2012. The group’s sales went up 6% in the first nine months, based on the results of the stores outside Bucharest, a trend that might continue until the end of the year. November is ‘good’ and comes after a slower October.
The businessman bet on sofas, carpets and mattresses for growth this year.
He says he is also interested in partnerships with Romanian producers to manufacture various decorations in Romania.
Sucu estimates the furniture market at EUR600 million to EUR700 million, but sales continued to decline this year. Other companies in the furniture business in Romania are IKEA, Elvila, kika, Lemet, Casa Rusu.
Mobexpert’s owner believes the furniture industry has not been going through a crisis in the past few years but through a repositioning of the industry, which is happening not only in Romania but also everywhere in the world.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)