Furniture Marketplace Online

EUROPEAN FURNITURE RETAILING
¡¾2002.01.3¡¿

EUROPEAN FURNITURE RETAILING

In Europe the top 50 furniture distributors control 42.3% of the total market. These are mainly buying associations and specialist chains, some of them franchised, but there are some department stores that also sell furniture (M&S, John Lewis e El Corte Inglès) as well as three mail order companies: Otto, La Redoute and GUS.

It is interesting to note that from a rough comparison with the data available in 1993 (a study of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain) the market share controlled by the top 50 distributors has remained virtually the same: 43.8% in 1993, 42.3% today.

Large scale distribution does not appear to have changed drastically: 8 of the top 10 European distributors were in the same position in 1993. The two German buying associations GFM and DMV lost their places among the top 10 to MFI, the British distributor, and MEGA, the German group whose market share rose from 0.6% to 1.4% thanks also to the January 2000 acquisition of mail order company Karstadt Quelle.

Again ranking between 11th and 12th compared to 1993 were three buying associations: Der Kreis, the German group specialising in the distribution of kitchen furniture whose market share is unchanged, Union and Mobilier Européen.

Leading the ranking of the European furniture retailers we find IKEA and Begros, showing growth since 1993, followed by Conforama and VME that appear to be basically stable.The focus for Italian companies is on exports (Unifor, Las Mobili and the Doimo group), while German and British firms tend to concentrate their efforts locally.

Home: Furniture Market Online		Industry News & Markets