International brands and Czech manufacturers

Milan Fedorek: Founder and owner of SÁRA Company. Photos by SÁRA

EuroShop interview with Milan Fedorek, SÁRA POS Design & Production, Brünn

The Czech display supplier SÁRA celebrated its first time at the EuroShop in 2011. The company does not think cardboard is sturdy enough and instead uses aluminum composite panels, PVC or metal. Milan Fedorek founded SÁRA in 1992 together with a business partner in Brünn in the Czech Republic. The headquarters with its production and design department is located there. In 1995, the company added a sales office in Prague and since 2001, SÁRA has been a member of the trade association POPAI. In our interview, Fedorek talks about international contacts, trendsetters in the Czech Republic and a German web shop.

Last year you were an exhibitor at EuroShop. What was the result of this trade show?

The results from the trade fair are positive without any exceptions. The Euroshop 2011 trade fair was a global and pivotal event. We met visitors from all over the world at our booth, among them guests from Brünn, Vienna and Berlin, but also from Brazil, Mauritius and New Zealand. The trade show was an excellent opportunity to meet with experts from the POS industry sector in one location. We have enjoyed our first participation as an exhibiting company very much, and are sure that this was the right decision

Successful trade show appearance: in 2011, SÁRA exhibited for the first time at the EuroShop trade fair. © SÁRA

What has happened for you since last year?

At the beginning of this year, we launched our new screen printing machine SVECIA. We are now able to print in resolutions up to 33 lpc and sizes up to 700 x 1000. Thanks to this new machine, we are now able to respond to our customers’ needs even better and offer them custom-made solutions.

Who are your customers and what are your most important targeted countries?

Our most important target countries are without question the Czech Republic as well as Slovakia. In these countries, we collaborate with large corporate groups like Kraft Foods, Coca Cola or Philip Morris. The Polish marketplace however is also of prime importance to us. Ten years ago, we founded our subsidiary POP Time to specifically meet the needs of our Polish customers. Besides the already mentioned countries, our neighboring countries Germany, Austria and Hungary are becoming more and more important to us as well. Our customers there are primarily marketing and promotion agencies and printing companies as well as mid-sized companies from different industry sectors. In addition, we export to many Balkan states like for instance Slovenia and Croatia.

Who are the trendsetters for visual marketing for retail in your home country?

The trendsetters in the Czech Republic are primarily the international retail store chains that also implement their centrally developed marketing strategies here. However, there are also strong brands in the Czech Republic that collaborate with domestic POS manufacturers. Czech manufacturers are known for their innovative high-quality products with a great cost-performance ratio. Telefonica O2 should be mentioned as an example for this, which – even though it enjoys a huge international presence – for historical reasons collaborates with Czech manufacturers and is one of our important customers.

Store concept for Telefonica O2 in the Czech Republic. © SÁRA

The larger the display, the more important easy assembly becomes. Where do you see the limitations for displays?

Displays made of cardboard are a low-cost option to highlight products. Despite this advantage, we at SÁRA see two crucial drawbacks. On the one hand, it is the low load bearing capacity of the displays and on the other hand is the resulting shorter durability. This type of display is not suited to showcase large amounts of items and quickly shows signs of wear and tear. That is why we completely stay away from cardboard as a material for our displays and use Dibond, PVC or metal instead. Dibond are aluminum composite panels, consisting of an aluminum coating and a polyethylene core. This way we can guarantee our customers a long life for our displays. Thanks to exchangeable branding, the displays can be used for other marketing campaigns depending on customer preference.

Store with display: store concept for Telefonica O2 in the Czech Republic. © SÁRA

At what quantities do displays start to pay off for you?

We are able to produce displays from a number of different materials. We have most of these materials in-house and can therefore quickly and cost-effectively manufacture a lesser number of items. Recently for example, we made a display for Condecor to present concrete floors, of which we only manufactured five pieces. Therefore, there is no set minimum number of pieces; even small quantities can be produced.

You have a German web shop for promotional tables. What can your customers find there?

We have created our www.promotheke.de web shop especially for our German-speaking customers. We offer our portfolio of different promotional tables in three sizes. This line of products is particularly well suited for export, which has been shown in the past with customers all over Europe. We supply a multitude of attractive designs for promo tables. They are manufactured in the EU with perfect quality, are easy to assemble and shipped in secure and flat packaging. The choices range from affordable PVC and polypropylene tables all the way to sturdy wood tables. Aside from indoor as well as outdoor promotional purposes, the tables are also perfect for presentations at trade shows.

Interview: René Schellbach, EuroShop.de

01.04.2012

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