Lively show raises hopes in Vietnam
Susan M. Andrews -- Furniture Today, November 8, 2004
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — Vietnam wants to export $1 billion of furniture in 2005, a cause helped along by the largest-ever Ho Chi Minh City International Furniture and Handicraft Expo, held here Sept. 29-Oct. 3.
 Jeff Dilley, managing principal of sourcing and consulting firm Exsero, is interviewed for television news during the opening ceremonies. |
| Jeff Dilley, managing principal of sourcing and consulting firm Exsero, is interviewed for television news during the opening ceremonies. |
The lively, well-attended show met its objective of getting international buyers to Vietnam to shop for furniture. Several hundred Americans attended, as did large groups from Malaysia, Japan, Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
Final numbers were better than organizers had expected, with about 20,000 attending the show, including more than 4,500 from outside Vietnam.
Exhibitors hoping to connect with U.S. buyers at the show said they succeeded in writing orders, from samples to multiple containers.
Expo organizers said exhibitors reported signing 23 contracts during the show worth $8.7 million and reaching commitments for another $22.3 million in business — figures that are stunning in a country with an average per capita annual income of about $400.
Vietnam expects to export about $750 million worth of furniture this year, a 50% increase over 2002.
 Oanh Nguyen, left, Emoa Handicrafts, Ho Chi Minh City, and Charles Calloway, FF&E Direct, New York; make selections at the booth of Esthetic Home Furnishing. |
| Oanh Nguyen, left, Emoa Handicrafts, Ho Chi Minh City, and Charles Calloway, FF&E Direct, New York; make selections at the booth of Esthetic Home Furnishing. |
Le Van Cong, trade promotion manager for the Department of Trade, said the 2004 Ho Chi Minh City show was double the square footage of the 2003 edition and had twice as many exhibitors. He said the 2005 edition will increase by even more.
The manufacturing cluster around Ho Chi Minh City is home to about 70% of Vietnam’s 600 largest furniture producers, Cong said. The show featured more than 210 manufacturers of indoor and outdoor furniture and home accents.
Its timing, just three weeks before the High Point market, probably kept some American buyers at home, but several important U.S. importers and distributors did show up.
Americans who have attended previous shows in Ho Chi Minh City said the 2004 edition was significantly improved. China-based Steve Kirk, Asia sales director for Sherwin-Williams Coatings, said suppliers such as his company were on hand because they are expanding operations in Vietnam to support the country’s growing furniture manufacturing footprint.
 Steve Kirk |
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Steve Kirk |
U.S. importer Powell Co.’s top executives, Bill Benton and Sean Slack, took a good look at the Expo as well. Benton, whose company has been bringing in goods for years from Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia, said it’s always wise to stay aware of sourcing options.
“Vietnam is a great opportunity and a good area for Powell,” he said.
One group finding Vietnam attractive these days are Chinese manufacturers, who are shifting some production to the country because of the U.S. antidumping duties now imposed on wood bedroom furniture made in China. With no tariffs, many Vietnamese furniture plants are running at capacity and looking to expand.
 This leather-inlaid dining table from Lee’s Furniture comes with side and arm chairs upholstered in leather and a custom Quaker fabric. |
| This leather-inlaid dining table from Lee’s Furniture comes with side and arm chairs upholstered in leather and a custom Quaker fabric. |
Nguyen Thi Tram, manager of import/export trading for Saigon-Daklak Co. (Sadaco), said her company has ramped up production in response to the China duties.
“Two containers of samples just left for the United States. Before the tariffs, we had two shifts. Now we have hired more workers and run three shifts a day, 24 hours. We are also looking for more land and machinery,” she said.
Many of the companies showing in Ho Chi Minh City were smaller, Vietnamese-owned furniture manufacturers anxious to get a toehold in the American market. They can’t meet a 50-container-a-month minimum, so big U.S. buyers aren’t their targets. They’re looking to small- to medium-sized American retailers who want to do global sourcing and can’t buy in sufficient volume to satisfy large Chinese factories.
The most meaningful growth for Vietnam’s furniture industry could come from these companies, according to Jeff Dilley, general manager of Exsero Sources Vietnam, a division of Exsero Group. The growth of these smaller companies will help the country gain a more deeply rooted economic stability.
Banking on a growing relationship with the American market, some directors of such companies are sending their children to school in the United States or have other family members working as accountants, for example, in the States to get hands-on experience in American business practices.
 BS Furniture’s Tantris collection is made of solid New Zealand pine, given an upscale look with a dark walnut stain and hand-waxed finish. Designer Bernd Stoppler said a brief scene in a Sylvester Stallone movie was the inspiration for the collection’s eccentric shape. |
| BS Furniture’s Tantris collection is made of solid New Zealand pine, given an upscale look with a dark walnut stain and hand-waxed finish. Designer Bernd Stoppler said a brief scene in a Sylvester Stallone movie was the inspiration for the collection’s eccentric shape. |
The show also served as a showcase for Vietnam’s skill in producing high-end decoration like marquetry, hand carving and hand finishing that Americans love in furniture from such suppliers such as French Heritage, Sarreid, Theodore Alexander and Maitland-Smith, all of which source product from Vietnam.
Several suppliers to these companies showed here, including French Furniture Co., which produces upscale traditional case goods, accents and upholstery. “We have customers in the United States already and we met some more good contacts at the show. We are very happy,” said French Director Nguyen Phuong Thao.
Tan Thanh Co., which supplies exposed-wood upholstered chairs to such clients as Thomasville Furniture and Ferguson Copeland, also said it had a busy market. Tan Thanh, headed by Director Pham Ngoc Tan, has 200 workers and ships about 35 to 40 containers a month.
Four bedroom collections with a clearly Western sensibility debuted at Tien Trien VN Co. President Tien Trien said he was very pleased with its reception and the number of large orders written at Expo. Tien also showed at the High Point market. Also on hand for the company was John Mecer, who recently joined as vice president.
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At Esthetic, specializing in Art Deco case goods and upholstery, customer Charles Calloway of New York-based FF&E Direct said he was looking to add more product to the groups he already buys.
“I never expected to have so much success with this product. Frankly I thought the frames were too low, but my customers just love it. It’s beautiful. Vietnam has such good wood furniture and handicrafts,” he said.
Several Vietnamese manufacturers here who showed at the High Point market this past spring said they were skipping the October show because they had so much business coming out of April that they are at full capacity. However, some will return to the United States next summer to show as a group during the first World Market Center show in Las Vegas.
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Lively show raises hopes in Vietnam
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