It took ten days for the management of the Kremenchug company “Аrtbruno” to recover from the nightmarish morning of February 24. When it became clear that the war, as it is not a shame to realize, is not for a week and not for one month, we will have to live in the conditions of martial law – and if we live, then work where it gives an opportunity – the company again took up a usual furniture business. We continued to do what we were forced to do on peaceful February 23, said the head of “Аrtbruno” Serhiy Kladogub: to finish the started furniture projects, paid individual orders, and later received several new ones – people’s household needs did not disappear even in the conditions of martial law – however, they have become fewer and simpler.

– Are there enough materials, furniture components and, finally, workers in view of the massive migration of Ukrainians and mobilization outflow?

– I don’t know how my colleagues in other regions have the opportunity to make furniture, but ours has everything we need for furniture production.

Our employees have not yet been mobilized, so everyone is at work. The absence of a female part of the team, which is still outside Kremenchug, did not critically affect the viability of the company. Some of our clients are still in refugee status. The furniture they ordered is ready, but no one is there to pick it up.

– As for the few orders that fell during wartime, I wonder what was ordered for you?

        – Kitchens. Moreover, two sets of furniture were sent to Kyiv. Unfortunately, these are single orders, because the furniture market in Kremenchug actually froze. And I understand those who have a need for new furniture, but they – even representatives of the middle class – are wary of investing in them, until the threat of total destruction of their home has disappeared. In general, the decline of the market was already visible in December of last year, when the approach of the war was already intuitively felt, and our potential customers began to postpone the implementation of furniture projects already agreed upon by us.

At some point, the calls from the capital became more active, which started to set us in an optimistic mood, but already at the calculation of possible orders, the contacts were cut off: people cannot get used to the new prices, which are higher than the pre-war ones. Even if everything is calculated at a minimum, with a very small margin for the manufacturer. But if you don’t calculate when some materials have doubled in price, you still won’t get the pre-war cost price. So it turns out that, for example, the price of a kitchen of 100-150,000 is now prohibitive for the people of Kremenchug, because many of them in the industrial city have become unemployed, and those who do have a job, then with a reduced salary.

– Your company is so versatile that it probably does not have furniture in terms of functionality, purpose, style, and materials, which your craftsmen would not be able to produce. Do you think that when the war ends, the furniture market will revive, which furniture will be in demand the most?

– It is difficult to predict, but it is precisely our versatility that will allow us to immediately respond and adapt to any needs of the post-war market. We can really do a lot in the furniture industry, but it turned out that our main customers ended consumers, and our orders were individual projects of residential furniture. Probably, it will remain so.

– What plans for the development of the company did the war make impossible or postponed indefinitely?

– There were indeed such plans. And a lot. First of all, we were preparing to improve our sales by reforming the relevant service, we have already started implementing the CRM system, which allows us to increase sales volumes, better satisfy customer requests and thus improve the company’s image, and it was also time to open new showrooms in other cities. I hope that these plans will not become “buried”, but only postponed for a certain period.