Seducing Porcelain Products!

47 Turkish Companies exhibited in the Coverings Show, which was held in Orlando, U.S.A.

between April 9-12, 2019

* Participants of the National participation organization which was held by İstanbul Mineral Exporters Association (İMİB) at the Coverings Show have been harshly criticized by the participants. The placements of the stones exhibited at the booths were not appropriate that they remained in the dark. Stones of some participant companies had been broken even before installations as well.

* Porcelain in America, has conquered the hearts of consumers in all aspects. There is no other explanation for the fact that the halls of porcelain products were full of visitors! 

Text and Photos: Ersin BOZKURT

In America, it seems that; Porcelain products are traveling around the continent! In fact, every year the situation becomes more clear. Coverings has became the mirror of this situation! Porcelain, following the trends of marble and other natural stones, have been increasing its own market share every other year, This causes a gradual fall in the share of marble. When we look at the statistics, we see that our market share in America is stable. In other words, there is a very small amount of increase, which is caused by the high tax applied to China. Especially when we look at the final figures, we see that the decline rates in China overlaps the growth rate in Turkey especially in quartz production.

Awesome marketing strategies by porcelain manufacturers

We have to admit that, porcelain manufacturers do great things in terms of marketing strategies, competitiveness and quality standards of the products they are marketing. In spite of this, the natural stone sector is doing almost nothing in terms of marketing The summary of the situation is as follows: Porcelain in America, stole the hearts of the end consumer in all aspects. There is no other explanation for the fact that the porcelain products are full of visitors! Porcelain has became the common focal point for architects, interior designers, designer, landscapers, in short, for everyone who has something to do with the building cladding.

Great criticism for national participation stands

The common problem for all the companies exhibited under the National Participation Organization in Coverings, was the inappropriate design of the stands. İMİB officials stated that they would discuss these unsatisfying booth installation situations with the installer company. The most obvious problem in stand installations was the lighting. The lighting fixtures placed behind the exhibited natural stones and this caused the stone to remain in the dark. This was even more obvious during photo shootings.  

We take criticisms into consideration…

Aydın Dinçer / İMİB Chairman of the Board of Directors

We will evaluate all the criticisms made by our participants and take our notes. After the fair we will consider this issue with precision. We will discuss all these complaints with the company that designs and installs stands. We will find a solution by considering the rights of our companies in the sector.

The stands were a complete disgrace

Hasan Serter / Basaranlar Marble – Denizli

Here I would like to tell you about the fair and the connections we made. However, the situation we encountered, irritated us so much that I want to talk about this issue. You can see from the photo that there are giant pillars in the front part of the booth. How can a designer not manage to calculate the final effect of these pillars on any booth design? In addition, of course the main problem was lighting. Our business is marble and we need to show the polish quality and exact colour of our stone. However, with these designs, it is impossible to achieve this. The lighting tools remain behind the marble and the surfaces of the marbles remain in the dark. IMİB Board of Directors should make a big penalty for this company and they should never make business with them again!

İMİB should call the installer company to account for these Stands!

Mehmet Şen / Şenler Marble – Afyonkarahisar

We participate in fairs in many countries of the world, but the most expensive fair participation for us is always the Coverings Show. Nevertheless, this time we had to exhibit our stones via badly designed stands, although we came here to increase our exports and promote our new products. Even, some of our marbles were broken before the exhibition. We want İMİB to call this company to account. Although it is not an event that meets our expectations, we at least want to make sure that someone will protect our rights. If you ask me about the fair, I can’t even make a comment since I was busy getting angry fort he stand construction.

It is obvious that the company that makes the stands is inexperienced!

Muhammed Başarır / Başarırlar Marble – Bucak-Burdur

We did not come here with great expectations, but we didn’t think that the stands could be this bad. The installer company was obviously very novice. During the installation phase, the products of many companies were damaged. The lighting was literally a fiasco. In my opinion, I would like to see a big banner or flag with “Türkiye” script on it in the Turkish National Participation Hall. Other countries do it proudly. I wonder if we had any reason to not to do it. Somehow, we do not see our flags in the recent fair participations any more.

I would like to make positive comments, but its not possible!

Alp Dilek / Aya Stone / Bilecik

Actually, I would like to make positive comments about this fair participation but it is not possible. We have been badly affected by the situations such as the inappropriate construction of stands and the dominance of porcelain at Coverings. Unfortunately, the stone market is gradually shrinking. What is more saddening is the unconcerned attitudes of the marble sector against this trend. The marble sector is not doing anything to maintain or increase their market shares while the porcelain producers are working very hard.

Turkish Companies Participating in Coverings

ACK Marble, Adalya Marble, Afes Marble, Aya Mining, Aymar Natural Stone, Başaranlar Marble, Başarırlar Marble, Beta-Mer Travertine Marble, Betsan Mosaic, Çiftyıldız Natural Stone Group, Çekiçler Marble, Gemar Marble, Çetin Mining, CVK Marble, Davut Marble, DN Marble, Dörtyol Marble, Ege Naturalstone, Emek Marble, Erk Marble, Eymer Ltd. Şti., Fethiye Marble, Gençler Marble, Hartek HRK Diamond, Hürok Marble, İMİB, Karaman Natural Stone, Karamehmet Marble, Kayı Marble, Kaynak Marble, Laloğlu Group, Lütfi Takavcı Marble, MB Stone, Natamar Marble, Naturelmar Mining, Olympos Marble, Onur Marble, Pima Stone, Remer Mining, Şenler Marble, Silkar Mining, Soylu Marble, Stone Terroir, Stone Mart, Tarmak – Huka Stones, Tureks, Veromar Yapı.