With real estate enjoying a stimulus in the GCC region and a concomitant expansion occurring in the residential, commercial and industrial furniture market, international firms are vying with one another to capture a slice of the pie.

Singapore-based Eurosa is among many Southeast Asia furniture-makers that see promise of good business in the region. While many of these firms set out for a foothold in the GCC area only in recent years, Eurosa has had a trading relationship that goes back three decades.

Project manager Vincent Tay of Eurosa, reviewing business conditions in the Gulf, says UAE nationals and possibly a percentage of high-heeled expatriates have a predilection for high-end furniture which companies like his own are seeking to exploit.

“They are very impressed with and interested in luxury classical products,” Tay says. “Trends are changing globally and the UAE has been influenced by western designs,” he notes. In another observation, he states the propensity for villas and spacious rooms calls for fine furniture, as one would naturally expect. Tay also comments that not only is the volume of furniture increasing with large spaces, there is the tendency in the UAE to change furniture more frequently than the denizens of Singapore, for example, would care to do. That makes for a forever expanding furniture trade and good prospects for those engaged in it.

“Dubai is Eurosa’s top market in the Gulf and contributes around 60 per cent of our sales in the region,” Tay says. According to the official, Eurosa products enjoying most sales in the Gulf are contemporary Casegoods and transitional modern Seating. Under Eurosa’s Casegoods and Seating categories are a number of styles, a prospect that buyers might find difficult to zero in on.

Eurosa’s Gulf sales in 2014 amounted to $200,000, a slight dip over the previous year’s figure, says Tay. However, he adds that 70 per cent of the decrease has been covered this year and with six months to go, there is the distinct possibility it could surpass last year’s performance. Globally, Eurosa achieved sales of $15 million in 2014.

Tay believes the sales performance in 2014 could be the last weak one for some time. “Real estate properties are increasing and furniture will remain among the priorities,” he says.

The company is currently on a market campaign for its designer collection named Cosmopolitan Premium Home. Cosmopolitan is a modern classic furniture series compatible with a variety of furniture styles and interior spaces, says the marketing pitch. “Focusing on residential needs, the collection is a collaborative effort with award-winning designer Clicon Faytory,” it adds.

In the Gulf, Eurosa is also focusing on more common furniture for hotels and apartments. Under its Contract line, Eurosa has succeeded internationally in shipping furniture to some iconic establishments including a couple of Marriott hotels and the Ritz Carlton Pentagon in the US, the Mayland Resort Hotel Guangzhou, China, and the Navarino Resort Greece.

Tay says Eurosa has managed to supply furniture to hospitality projects in the Gulf including four-star and five-star hotels. “For reasons of confidentiality I cannot disclose names,” he says.

Eurosa distributes its offerings in the Gulf through retailers, wholesalers and distributors as well as working with project contract firms.