Demand for imported furniture in the Kathmandu valley has been rising significantly with consumers getting more conscious about creating an aesthetically pleasing ambience in their homes. The shift in preference can be gauged by the fact that the valley now contains more than four dozen furniture stores dealing in imported products.

Furniture stores which started with a limited product range now are expanding their entire stock ranging from office furniture to kid’s special and sofa sets, TV cabinets and bedroom sets. Apart from wood, modern furniture uses various materials like steel, plastic, tubular steel, leather straps, laminates, glasses, moulded plywood and synthetic wood to give a stylish finish and light weight.

“Various factors including availability of numerous designs and superior finishing has helped in raising demand for imported furniture,” said Suresh Shrestha, managing director of Bira Furniture. Apart from this, competitive prices have played a crucial role in increasing sales of imported furniture, Shrestha added.   

Traders said that the country’s furniture market is worth around Rs 1 billion annually and that the industry is growing by around 25 percent. Most of the imported furniture available in the market comes from China. Traders said that Chinese furniture accounts for more than 80 percent of the imported furniture market. Furniture from places like India, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia too are popular in the domestic market. As for premium products, most are imported from Europe.

According to traders, growing desire among the public to go for a modern lifestyle has helped the imported furniture business to flourish. Likewise, the trend of considering furniture as something that lasts for ages has changed. Traders said that people now look at furniture as a style statement, and thus focus more on the look and superior finish. A massive boom in the construction of apartments and trendy houses in the past few years has also contributed to the growth in sales.  

Another major reason why people are going for imported and designer furniture is that most of these items come in knock-down form making it easy to dismantle, transport and reassemble them. “Due to lack of technology, knock-down furniture is not manufactured domestically, and this is why more and more people are attracted towards imported products,” said Raju Karmacharya, managing director of Lifestyle Design and Décor.

Situated at New Plaza, Kathmandu, the store has been selling imported furniture for the past 12 years. “If we look at the trend of the past few years, use of imported furniture has surged,” he said. Imported furniture accounts for 50 percent of the overall furniture market in the valley, he added.  Likewise, the trend of using designer furniture has been increasing considerably. Under designer furniture, customers get furniture with aesthetic value. “The trend of using designer furniture in Nepal started two to three years ago. Its growth rate is impressive, and it has the potential to turn into another popular trend in home furnishing,” Karmacharya said. Sensing the prospects, a number of domestically renowned furniture brands have started focusing on developing designer products.

source: The Kathmandu Post,14 August 2012