The long-awaited arrival of Sweden's IKEA in Korea seems to have galvanized rather than floored the domestic furniture industry.

The top 10 domestic furniture businesses saw sales surge by 18.5 percent or W578 billion last year to a whopping W3.71 trillion (US$1=W1,153).

Industry leader Hanssem's revenues jumped 28.9 percent to W1.63 trillion, followed by Hyundai Livart (W695.7 billion), Enex (W303 billion), and Fursys (W243.6 billion).

Opening in December of 2014 in the Seoul suburb of Gwangmyeong, IKEA emmediately secured a solid position with W308 billion in sales in its first operating year.

But rather than flattening the domestic competition it spurred them to improve their tired product lines and open megastores of their own, which have been drawing enthusiastic crowds.

Instead it is the smaller businesses that have suffered now that cheaper products are vastly better designed across the board. Small furniture shops in nearby Gwangmyeong, Pocheon, and Euiwang in Gyeonggi Province saw sales fall by over 30 percent.

"Many customers who used to buy cheaper furniture from smaller makers probably moved to IKEA, which has the brand advantage but similar prices," said an industry insider.

(Source: english.chosun.com)