Luxury Furniture Keeps IMAR Alive In Crisis Time

Paula Bulzan, Arad

Luxury products help Arad County"s largest furniture company, IMAR, survive the crisis as rich customers from Italy and Russia prefer imports from Romania to more expensive products readily available on their home markets. A set of bedroom furniture with parts decorated in gold and Swarovski crystals was sold at the latest edition of the Mobil Ar furniture fair to a customer who made a downpayment immediately upon seeing it.

The Leopold bedroom set comprises a bed of 2 meters length by 1.8 meters width with a boiserie displaying cloth engravings, a chest of drawers and two bedside tables. The boiserie is manually sculpted and decorated with gold foil and Swarovski crystals. "This bedroom set is widely popular among Italian and Russian businesspeople, who buy it both from Arad and our showrooms in Bucharest," said Petrica Tucra, a representative of IMAR - Arad.

Due to the manual sculptures and intricate decorations, the production of one such bedroom set can take up to one year, not including the application of the gold foil and crystals. The boiserie is large enough to cover a wall, but can be customized to the buyer"s preference. One Leopold bedroom set is priced at 10,000 EUR, with the producer attributing a large part of it to the high quality of the raw materials.

IMAR representatives also highlighted medievally-inspired furniture sets decorated with Swarovski crystals, which are very much appreciated by customers ready to pay for exquisite pieces. As an example, the Oxford hallway set, covered in white leather and decorated with Swarovski crystal is available for 7,000 EUR. The Paris bedroom set, comprising one bed, two bedside tables, a four-door wardrobe, a linen chest, a stool and a toilette table with mirror costs over 9,000 EUR and is highly demanded for the aged appearance.

The factory also offers a range of furniture that combines classic and modern features and includes items the living room and hallways.

The management earlier announced plans to move the factory to new premises, but the idea is for the moment on hold. IMAR has downsized operations and limited the space to two halls in the old compound to reduce electricity and heating costs. The factory currently has 200 employees.