CIFF show adds 23% more space to furniture displays

Event takes place Sept. 6 to 9 in Guangzhou, China

Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, July 24, 2009

GUANGZHOU, China — Furniture buyers attending the September China International Furniture Fair will see a larger space devoted to indoor residential furniture.

The Sept. 6 to 9 event takes place in about 1.6 million square feet of space at the China Import & Export Fair Pazhou Complex in Guangzhou. According to show officials, the space devoted to furniture is roughly an additional 300,000 square feet, or 23% larger than the space available last September.

CIFF will feature more than 700 exhibitors, up from 677 during the September 2008 event. These include a host of case goods and upholstery producers, offering traditional, transitional and contemporary designs.

By press time, a list of planned exhibitors was not yet available on the show Web site, but in the past, the show has featured well-known brands such as Kuka, Kinwai, Zouyou, Red Apple and Gainwell.

Foreign manufacturers from Spain, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and Thailand also have shown at the event in the past, giving it appeal for domestic and international buyers alike.

Mike Ricks, president of accent furniture specialist Furniture Classics, said he has been to CIFF as recently as March. He is considering attending both this event and the September 9 to 12 Furniture China show in Shanghai.

He said he typically budgets about a day to walk the CIFF show and another day either before or after to visit a factory of an existing or potential supplier.

"I want to see samples and if they have something worthwhile and I go to the factory to see if they can manufacture (it) for us," he said.

Ricks added that because of the amount of product at the show, he often doesn't go shopping for anything in particular.

"We look at a broad category of furniture - that is one of the ways we approach it," he said. "Once you can focus and get past the product aimed at the domestic market, you can come across some really interesting stuff. Granted, it is few and far between, but you look for that diamond in the rough."

Another U.S. buyer planning to attend CIFF in September is Jake Jabs, president and CEO of Englewood, Colo.-based American Furniture Warehouse.

Jabs will visit the show with two of his associates and then head from there to Shanghai.

In the day to day-and-a half he'll spend at CIFF, Jabs said his team will seek out accent pieces such as three-drawer chests, bombe chests, plant stands, magazine racks and cocktail ottomans.

"The good buys there are at the little companies you never heard of," Jabs said, adding that he can buy mixed containers direct from the factories at prices that are half of the amounts charged by some U.S. importers. "You can buy that stuff so damn cheap."

Given the still-sluggish economy, it is difficult to say how many U.S. buyers will attend these shows. Another factor that could impact U.S. attendance is the proximity of the Sept. 14 to 17 Las Vegas show, and Sept. 14 to 15 premarket event in High Point.

Last September's CIFF event drew 36,247 visitors -- 29,112 of whom were domestic buyers.

In addition to furniture, the show has a separate 300,000-square-foot area devoted to home décor and home textiles and another smaller area devoted to outdoor furniture.

For more information, visit www.ciff-gz.cn.