Jamaica’s furniture industry is bracing for what manufacturers say will be another major blow to the industry when the American retail giant, ‘Rooms to Go’ sets up an outlet here in March.

Industry players and analysts say that institutional support will be required if the local industry is to survive the entry of the new player.

“The local industry has to get institutional help to fix some of the problems in the industry,” Dr Roselda Hamilton, trade policy consultant in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade told the Business Observer yesterday. “We need to get a strategic plan in place,” she said, “… to get a design centre operational and to generally intensify the efforts to work with our local products”.

The industry is seeking the intervention from JAMPRO, the Bureau of Standards and the Anti-dumping and Subsidies Commission.

Rooms to Go is the largest furniture retailer in the USA.

Industry players have complained that they have been making efforts to transform their businesses to be able to compete, but that the entry of the American retailer would now retard that effort.

Export earning from the local industry fell from US$3.4 million in 1995 to US$855,000 in 2001, while imports of furniture and parts jumped from US$19.1 million in 1995 to UD$30 million in 2001, and fell to US$27.4 million in 2001.

But local manufacturers say that they have been encouraged by what appears to be a rebound in the demand for Jamaican products during the post-election period and up to Christmas last year. It was, they say, the best period for the furniture industry since 1998/1999. The data for the full year are not yet available.

Furniture manufacturers are apparently concerned that a plan by Courts to purchase more local products could possibly be thwarted by the entry of a strong competitor bent on flooding the market with imports.

Courts — Jamaica’s largest retailer — has apparently taken a corporate decision to pursue a “value focused” strategy in its furniture procurement.

The new purchasing director, James Kidwell, recently told members of the Jamaica Wood Products and Furniture Association (JaWFA) that his company would work closely with manufacturers to ensure that design, material and costs were globally competitive.

Local producers have in the past complained bitterly about the surge of imported ready-to-assemble furniture that was introduced to Courts a few years ago.

But at the recent meeting, Kidwell promised to launch an intense 12-month programme to assist the local industry.

The programme includes:

* an exhibition showcasing of local furniture,

* better prices for local furniture suppliers,

* assistance in purchasing raw materials,

* support of an apprenticeship programme,

* assistance in accessing foreign loans and expertise,

* assistance for activities that support the industry.

Kidwell said that Jamaica’s furniture industry was not dying, but needed more support from other prominent players in the private sector and government to realise and sustain its viability.

President of JaFWA, Betty McGann, said that while the industry was grateful for interventions like Courts’, more institutional support was needed.

“Institutional support for the furniture and wood products industry has been non-existent or very limited at best,” she said. “Nonetheless, we are thankful for the support from Courts and remain hopeful that with timely support from other large retailers and key institutions the industry will survive even in the face of increasing competition.”

McGann also highlighted the following activities that the local producers had been doing over the last few years to prepare for increased competition and globalisation:

* prepared a plan of action outlining the steps to be taken to rebuild the industry,

* launched the Jamaica Wood Products & Furniture Association on May 2, 2002,

* forged a strategic alliance with the Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA) and the Small Craft Producers Association (JCPA),

* initiated dialogue with regional counterparts in developing a Caribbean Wood Products & Furniture Association,

* engaged in preliminary discussion and planning of a furniture exhibition and design competition

* contracted the services of an international furniture/wood product expert to do a preliminary assessment of the developing machine-assisted woodcrafts in Jamaica and the region,

* met with Phillip Paulwell to seek government support,

* requested assistance from the following institutions:

* HEART to establish a training and Resource Centre to assist the Woodcraft Industry (they have agreed to use their Portmore facility)

* Jamaica Business Development Centre (JBDC) to assist in preparing a comprehensive strategic plan for the industry and to assist in establishing a resource centre,

* Bureau of Standards to ensure enforcement of compulsory standards on imports,

* JAMPRO to provide technical assistance (particularly on the area of design) for the industry,

* Anti-Dumping and Subsidies Commission (ADSC) to pursue Safeguards and/or Anti-Dumping action

Scientific Research Council (SRC) to provide research and technical assistance for the industry

University of Technology (UTECH) to provide research and technical assistance for the industry

Forestry department to start a tree replanting project.