Tema-Ghana, Nov. 28, GNA – Patronage and sales of local and imported furniture have dropped due to economic challenges and global difficulties, a survey conducted by the Ghana News Agency in Tema has established.
Mr Evans Asante, Sales Officer at God’s Time Furniture in Tema Community Four told the GNA in an interview that prices of materials used in the production of furniture including leather, wood, petrol, and others have doubled over a brief period this year.
He said the cost of transportation has also increased which has impacted on the final cost of the product.
Mr Asante said patronage had decreased since the prices jumped four times just this year and by the festive season in December, there would be an increment again.
He also expressed concern about the impact on their business as the value of the furniture reduced when kept over a lengthy period, which most often forces dealers to reduce the price to clear it.
Mr Asante, however, noted that locally made furniture was of higher quality than the imported ones as they used pure leather, foam, wood, and fabric which lasted longer than the imported furniture.
Mr Emmanuel Darkwa, Sales Officer said the older generation preferred locally made furniture to the younger generation.
He advised the younger generation to follow their parents, saying, “local furniture may be expensive, but it lasts longer.”
Mr Fafali Quaye, a representative at the Kingdom Books and Stationery Limited, Tema branch said the dollar played a key role in the pricing of imported furniture.
He said due to the unpredictability of the dollar to the Ghana cedi, customers were finding it difficult to budget for their needed items, now traffic to our shops has dropped due to the high price.
Mr Quaye noted that Kingdom Books and Stationery Shops imported specific types of furniture to meet the standards of customers.
He said, “we try to meet the needs of the public due to the long hours of sitting down at the workplace people prefer a certain type of chair, so we import orthopaedic chairs from Malaysia and China.”
