COLOMBIA - Madecentro, the largest company in the Colombian wood and furniture sector, closed 2016 with sales of COP 430 billion (approximately USD 145 million), growth of 28.7% over the previous year and a network of 105 specialized stores for the furniture industry and carpentry.

For Madecentro 2016 was also a year of significant investment decisions in technology. During the second semester Madecentro launched an aggressive technological modernization plan for its network, which will be completed in the coming years and involves an investment of around USD 4 million. For it the specialized retailer chose the global leader in machinery for wood panel transformation, the German Homag Group and its representative in Colombia, Cubrecol (previously known as Tekandina). Investments include software and sawing and edgebanding equipment.

“Beyond a wide range of products, our most important offer, what differentiates us, is our design service for clients. Not only do we offer the latest trends in melamine, hardware or edgebands – which we have - but also the service to make the customer’s idea into processed parts and pieces in equipment that guarantees finishes of the highest quality and that make the idea a reality, from the design, to the processing of the panel", explains Dimas Tobón, Manager of the Company.

Madecentro, with a customer base that averages 58 thousand a month, and with a highly qualified team of collaborators, was able to take advantage of the information of its consumer base and to detect how the profile of the client was changing. Currently about 46% of the customers that approach their stores are the end customers and about half of the total are new customers. This evolution is a result of the access to information and to the latest in trends and materials, and the search for individualization in design, which motivates the creation of our own spaces and the furniture to go with it.

For the immediate future and as Madecentro implements its technology investment plan, the expansion of its store network continues. Already in 2017 the Company has opened five stores, the latest in the city of Pereira. In total Madecentro plans to complete 17 inaugurations in 2017, in addition to the next opening of a new distribution center in Girardota, Antioquia. Dimas Tobón attributes the company’s growth, where sales have almost tripled in the last 5 years, surpassing any industry indicator, "to the commitment to the objectives and dynamism of the 2015 collaborators that are part of the Madecentro team."

Madecentro Sales Evolution

Billion COP