Producing both spring and latex types of mattresses Pierre Cardin furniture company sells mostly in Middle East markets.
General manager of the company Ayhan Tortumus emphasizes on the importance of healthy products. He informed about the beds and the markets
On product quality and the beds produced
We import latex type of beds from Italy while we produce spring beds in Turkey. Some people use some terms for marketing purposes only. Orthopedic is one of them. Actually, beds should keep the S shape of the body if they are really orthopedic. This can be realized in both categories of bed. Our commercial aim is not to sell in massive amount; instead, we target to offer the best products for smaller group of buyers who seek real and full orthopedic products. In spring types we use feather of 4.5 cm thick on the surface for better comfort. We do not exaggerate our messages about our products.
On the position of buyers in the sector
I entered in the sector in 2000’s, a period that the bed was counted at the 144th place among the basic needs of consumers. It had been replaced in ten to twelve years time and some were given as gift of furniture manufacturers. They were so cheap and the basic message about beds was ‘the comfort’. Now we use other motives that emphasize on the quality of sleep and its importance for health.
Nowadays, bed is ranked at higher echelons of necessities; it is replaced in about 6 years. Buyers pay more and the promises of sellers have differentiated. Demand for mattresses has been fuelled. Domestic customers have become more conscious than their peer in Europe and in America. However, they did not decide on which is better, the spring or latex types. We are not against spring beds. Both can be bought and sold, we respect their choices. First spring mattress was produced in Finland in 1905. Since then up to the year 2000 mattresses did not changed and developed much, only by the use of latex materials in them. Beds were for comfort only and they promise this. When the messages sent to the consumers began to be differentiated both the products and producers have been proliferated. Mattress industry now has about 1.5 to 2 bn dollars of sales volume that was produced by about 2,500 producers, large or small. Almost every furniture company has entered in the mattress business.
On exports 
We export products that we imported from Italy. Beds are vacuum-rolled to save from logistics costs. It means a serious amount of saving. Our products are sold more in the markets that seek branded products such as Middle East, Russia and Turkic republics. We have 23 stores in abroad including in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Singapore. Russian market was promising but recent movements have smoked the outlook. It has a great potential for our products. Middle East is our biggest market. However, the share in this market is still not satisfactory. We aim to sustainable trade with these markets. We open 15 more showrooms in abroad. We do not seek adventure in foreign markets. We have to solidify our efforts in the country.
