Interview with Serhiy Savchenko, owner of Blest
Serhiy Savchenko is the owner of Blest, one of the most well-known furniture brands in Ukraine. He came into furniture as a student selling sofas, and over time became the owner of the company, transforming it into a brand with a network of showrooms and exports to more than 10 countries.
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Blest in one word.
Inspiration. A hobby.
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One market out of all the ones you sell in — which surprised you the most?
Slovakia. We even opened two branded stores there — and Europe turned out to be nothing like we imagined. We’re no longer represented there now, but it was a real discovery.
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Morning or evening — when are you most productive?
Morning.
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What takes more time right now — business or volunteering?
Right now — business. But at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, it was the opposite.
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Where do you draw strength from — business, volunteering, or family?
Family.
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You’re a father of many children. What is the most valuable lesson they’ve taught you?
I learn from them every day — it’s definitely not just one lesson. Once upon a time children learned from adults, now it’s the other way around. They look at ordinary things in a completely different way.
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Blest today is one of the most recognized furniture brands in Ukraine. Where did it all begin?
Blest and my path in furniture started separately. The brand itself was founded in 1999 — someone who was importing furniture from Poland decided it would be more profitable to produce it at home. I got into furniture in 2002 — as a student looking for extra income, I found a job selling sofas. In 2003 we found each other: I had finished my studies and was looking for my calling, and the best thing I knew how to do was sell sofas. That’s how we came together.
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What decisions were turning points for Blest?
In 2007 I combined both directions — sales and production. And then came what seemed like an unrealistic idea: to become number one in the Ukrainian market in our segment. At the time there were clear leaders — big and very impressive companies. People looked at me like I was crazy. But I think we achieved a lot precisely because we set ourselves such a serious challenge. Never be afraid to set the most ambitious goals, even if they seem unrealistic.
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How has your customer changed over the last 2–3 years?
The customer is constantly changing, but today’s customer is someone who lives in the here and now. If 20 years ago people cared about durability and bought furniture to last half a lifetime, now almost no one thinks about whether a sofa will last 20 years. No one knows what will happen in two months. On top of that, since the war began, the purchasing power of different segments has changed significantly — and now quite a few customers are connected to the war in one way or another: military families, those working in the defense sector.
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Where did things burn the most operationally in the past year?
The question needs to be reframed: where didn’t things burn? Everything you could list would still be an incomplete picture. If problems used to come one at a time and we solved them one at a time, now everything can hit at once. Experience saves us — we’ve been through more than one crisis, and that gives a certain immunity. Plus the team. And the belief that all of this is temporary.
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Your first export contract — how did it come about?
The real development of the export direction started after 2014, when we as a country significantly changed course. Before that we even had a presence in a country I’d rather not name — three branded stores in the capital. But we closed everything in time given the political situation. After that, for several years in a row we exhibited at IMM Cologne — one of the largest furniture fairs in Europe. Then at High Point Market in the US, which led to a Canadian dealer. In 2016 we opened branches in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and tried to enter retail on our own. There were many attempts, and many of them were simply for the sake of gaining experience.
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Which market turned out to be the most difficult?
Slovakia simply surprised me with how rational people are. We assumed that if someone could afford a sofa for 2,000 euros, they wouldn’t be counting pennies. But I saw with my own eyes a husband and wife carrying a bed worth 1,500–2,000 euros out of a store themselves to save 35 euros on delivery. That’s simply unimaginable for us.
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What did you have to change in your product to enter Western markets?
This might sound funny, but we still try to bring our own samovar to the party. You can’t make a separate product for every country — otherwise you’d end up with a fantastically large product line. Our approach is to combine European design with the Ukrainian love of multifunctionality. So that it can not only be sat on, but also slept on.
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Where is it hardest to find people right now?
It’s a continuous process of searching for staff across all categories. Production staff is difficult, since it’s mostly men. Sales staff has traditionally been mostly women, but due to the security situation people aren’t willing to travel an hour to a shopping center for work. They want to work in the building next door. So there are challenges everywhere, and we’re looking for ways to solve them.
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How do you train new people?
Before, everything was built on a mentorship system — experienced staff with extra motivation would train newcomers on the principle of “watch how I do it.” But now a lot of experienced staff has been lost to mobilization and emigration. So both in sales and in production we now designate a specific person who handles training — both theoretical and practical.
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Tell us about a hiring situation that struck you.
There was an online interview, and somewhere in the middle we realized the person was behaving strangely — clearly some kind of psychological issue. The question was how to end the conversation appropriately without making things worse for the person. I used every communication skill I had — but it didn’t work on the first try. When I was saying goodbye for the fifth time, thanking them for their time and pressing the exit button in Zoom — I heard some very strong words directed at us. I told my colleagues afterward: we’ve never had an interview like that. These are our realities.
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What does your interaction with showroom managers look like?
I’m not that deep in day-to-day operations — I interact more with the sales director and production director. But since I came up through sales myself, it’s very close to my heart. I look for modern international experience specifically in furniture sales, adapt it to Ukrainian realities, and bring it to the team. Once every month and a half to two months we get together and work on selling better. By the way, I recently found an American furniture sales manual — it’s almost 100 years old, from the 1930s. References cite sources from 1918, 1921, 1928 with titles like “Techniques of Effective Selling” and “Diamond Level Service.” You realize that when Americans were thinking about how to sell better 100 years ago, people in our part of the world were thinking about other things. So there’s a lot to learn. My current go-to book is Brilliant Service by a British author about effective sales through exceptional service. And another interesting one — Flip the Script, about why you should throw out scripts and use new approaches.
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When did you decide to bring in Italian designers?
Around 2009, when Ukrainians started travelling to Europe en masse, especially Italy. I discovered for myself that Italians are the number one nation in the world when it comes to style and taste. They’ve been obsessing over the details of interiors and appearance for a couple of thousand years. I was struck by how something completely ordinary, with the addition of some little “cherry on top,” becomes something wow. That’s where the idea came from.
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What about design now?
With the start of the full-scale war, demand for Ukrainian designers skyrocketed. There have never been as many progressive, talented Ukrainian authors as there are now. So we moved away from working with Italians and are now experimenting with Ukrainian designers — looking for our ideal fit. There are models that have been in our lineup for 10–12 years and still sell well. And there are ones I look at now and think: my God, why did we ever make that. It’s a path of trial and error.
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Who is your main competitor?
Everyone who makes furniture for sitting and lying down. I’ve met managers more than once who said “they’re not our competitor because they’re cheap” or “because they’re ugly.” But they still take a bite out of the market. There are competitor-partners — those who don’t copy products, don’t deliberately undercut on price, and don’t poach employees. With them you can communicate, develop together, look for collaborations. I believe in strong partnerships and cooperation.
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How did you first find out about UAFM?
Probably around 2005–2006, when we first exhibited at furniture fairs. Back then the association was like a closed club — a few dozen large companies, you needed recommendations to get in and had to go through something like an interview. When we got in, we put the association’s logo everywhere: on price tags, brochures, materials. It was a serious achievement. Then came joint trips to exhibitions, to factories, new connections — there was genuinely a lot of value.
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What was the first thing that motivated you to join?
There was one furniture company close to the association’s leadership that won the “Sofa of the Year” competition twice a year without fail. For us that was an incredible challenge. Active participation in the association was partly driven by the motivation to win that prize. It was hard, but we got it in our time.
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What do you feel is most lacking in what the Association currently offers?
Lately I’ve barely interacted with the association — the initiative to return came from our retail network manager Larysa. So it’s hard to speak to specifics. But generally — the best result of any association is something you can see and monetize. Furniture is a business, and everything that helps business develop and show better results is the main criterion. That means international missions, finding partners, lobbying for legislation, supporting exports. Just talking is pleasant, but it’s not enough.
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Is there a project or idea you’ve had in mind for a long time?
There are always more ideas than can be realized. But when it comes to furniture — I want to use this interview to attract companies to collaborate. Everything related to optimizing production processes, product design, component supply, lean manufacturing, and collaborations — we’re open. If through this interview and through the association new contacts and proposals appear — that would be wonderful.
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How do you see Blest in 10 years?
Beautiful and modern. For me the measure of success is not a position in a ranking or a sales volume. It’s the emotion a person feels when they see, touch, and sit on our product. I hope that more and more people with positive emotions from their experience with Blest will appear — not only in Ukraine, but around the world.
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