NEWSROOM

Many furniture companies, including Aarons, Herman Miller and QuMei, suffered a great depreciation in the stock market. This loss is expected to continue later in the USA, Italy and China-based companies, whose production was disrupted due to the quarantine measures taken against the coronavirus outbreak.

*** This release is originally published in Turkish.
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ISTANBUL (TR) - While the world is trying to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, the economic dimension of the situation is getting worse day by day. Aarons, one of the largest furniture sellers in the world, has lost 68% value on the New York stock market since January 1. Bed Bath & Beyond, one of the most important furniture makers of America, has lost 66%, Bassett Furniture 62% and Hooker 48%. German Herman Miller, 36% in NASDAQ and Chinese QuMei, were the other companies that attracted 16% decrease in Shanghai stock exchange. While China, USA, Italy, Germany and France, which are among the top 5 in the world furniture production, are experiencing disruption in production due to the social isolation and quarantine measures taken, the problems that may occur in the following days in Japan, Canada and England pose a great risk for furniture companies.

“Steps should be taken to protect the manufacturer”

Stating that the state should support the manufacturer with economic support in this difficult process, Mission Furniture Chairman Erhan Sahin said, “We need to be prepared even if we do not encounter a serious enough situation to stop production already in Turkey. In Italy, the world's leading country of luxury furniture, unfortunately, we witness that even the human life of the manufacturer is incapable of being protected. At this point, France, the US and China are taking steps to protect the furniture maker. We need a crisis plan so that employment is not interrupted and there is no victimization in our country.”

“Economic prosperity is essential for the sustainable fight against the pandemic”

Stating that economic power is extremely important to combat epidemic diseases, Erhan Şahin continued his statements as follows: “In order to combat the coronavirus epidemic, firstly social consciousness and then economic power is needed. Today, China, Germany and South Korea can cope with the coronavirus outbreak with low mortality rates, while in Italy and Iran we see that the situation is not heartwarming. In case Turkey's possible spread of the outbreak, the commissioning of economic measures will guarantee the existence of domestic companies. The loss of value experienced by the leading furniture companies in the world was the basis that explained this situation in the clearest way. In a similar situation, it is a fact that Turkish companies, especially small and medium furniture makers, will suffer greatly.”