Not only in human destinies but also in the histories of companies, there are random coincidences that turn out to be significant. The same thing happened with the Woodband company: the beginning of the war coincided with a very important and responsible period of its activity – the final stage of launching a new production.

– On February 1, – Mr. Oleksandr elaborates on his story, – we started a new powerful furniture production in the newly built premises, and on February 24, we were supposed to take its first products to Kyiv.

The new production had not yet had time to work in full force, and the workers were not yet fully satisfied with the working conditions that had been created for them for comfortable, highly productive work when the war broke out. After a few days, everyone came to their senses. And later, several workers began to appear at the factory. At first, they just see each other and talk about the same painful topic for everyone. And in a few days, they began to pick up tools and do something little by little: war is war, and work must be done. The management also understood this – it is necessary to restore the full-fledged operation of the workshops. All employees were notified of this decision – and already at the end of March, the company fulfilled the first individual order under martial law and sent it to the client.

– Before the war, we not only started a new production, – Oleksandr Soroka continues the story, – but also launched the rebranding process, which ended with the appearance of our current trademark “Woodband” on the domestic furniture market. We regard this as the second birth of the company, so we feel young, enthusiastic, and confident even in this difficult time for the country and the domestic economy.

And therefore there is indeed a verbal confirmation. Already during the war, furniture makers from Zhytomyr managed to create – already under a new brand – a new serial furniture collection Folk. Moreover, it was also presented at the exhibition “M.O.W.” in September. in Germany. The collection is interesting because the furniture is based on natural ash. Presented in two colors – natural and black, which is not quite traditional for furniture, but is currently trendy. It is also attractive at a price that was managed to form a single one for the domestic market and for export. And in general, it consists of simple and ergonomic items – a bedside table, a shelf, a TV stand, and hanging shelves. The company plans to replenish the collection with other items. There are ideas for creating further collections, but it is unlikely that they will be announced by the end of the year. The year is ending, and some of the key specialists have been mobilized, which slowed down some work, and the focus was on the fulfillment of pre-war orders, the installation of which was postponed at the request of war-feared customers. On this occasion, Mr. Oleksandr remarked: despite the fact that during the war, almost everything for furniture production became more expensive, the price parameters for customers were not adjusted upward. That is, the company took on the additional costs of fulfilling orders under the current conditions.

We asked the owner of the company to tell us more about participation in the exhibition.

– We volunteered to become one of the participants of the collective national stand “Furniture of Ukraine” from the Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers at the exhibition “M.O.W.” in Germany. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this event for us. Firstly, participation in such a prestigious international exhibition was a premiere for us, i.e. the first in the company’s history. Secondly, I think we have quite convincingly declared ourselves at the international level, which is an important image gain for the company. Despite the fact that “Woodband” was not represented by a company stand, we talked in the negotiation area with those visitors to the collective stand who were interesting to us. I am very grateful to UAFM, which organized and helped conduct the negotiations.