Trade organisation BHETA’s latest export initiative – the November trade mission to Bucharest in Romania – was pronounced a huge success, revealing a range of commercial opportunities for housewares suppliers. Both housewares and home improvement suppliers took part in the BHETA trip, which was organised in partnership with the British Romanian Chamber of Commerce. The latter provided a packed schedule of events over the two-day event.
The trade mission started with a presentation from The British Romanian Chambers of Commerce (BRCC), Romanian legal experts McGregor & Partners, accounts KR Group, data experts, Nielsen Romania and three Romanian retailers, MAM Bricolage, Vivre and Mobexpert.
The trip also provided delegates with one to one meetings with Romanian retailers to discuss trade opportunities. These included Vivre (the home, gift and lifestyle destination store), Mobexpert, (the largest furniture, lifestyle and accessories distributor in Romania), MAM Bricolage (furniture and accessories company), and emag (the Romanian equivalent of Amazon). There were also store visits to help delegates to gain knowledge of the local market.
BRCC’s Madalina Ciinaru commented, “This is a great model which offers much value to UK exporters.”
BHETA’s housewares sector director, Will Jones added, “The mission was a great success with suppliers provided with in depth insight into the market over the course of two days. We met with bricks and mortar retailers as well as several online opportunities. It was great to see so many suppliers networking with each other and learning from each other’s export journeys.”
With Romania’s twenty million population and growing economy, the country has seen an increasing interest in housewares, with home and garden specialist retailers a favourite shopping destination.
Top: Products from Romanian furniture and housewares stockist, Vivre.
