For Americans, European furniture might mean a sleek Italian sofa or a sculptural Danish chair. Far fewer would think of Poland. Yet the Central European country is poised to become the continent’s furniture powerhouse. According to one estimate, every second sofa in Europe is made in Poland. With growing confidence, Polish furniture producers are eyeing more distant markets, including the U.S. Their timing couldn’t be better: With President Trump’s trade war, China has become a less viable option for many U.S. furniture companies who will continue to face 25% tariffs, in spite of a tentative U.S.–China trade deal reached last week. Polish exporters are eager to step in.

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This is not the first time Poland has seized such opportunities. In the 1960s, for example, IKEA’s founder Ingvar Kamprad opted to shift manufacturing from Sweden to Poland, after Swedish furniture dealers tried to shut him out of the industry. Almost 60 years later, Poland is the largest producer of IKEA furniture, employing some 10,000 people across 16 plants, which manufacture popular items from HEMNES bedroom furniture to LACK coffee tables. Yet today, Polish manufacturing is not limited to flat-pack and has come to include work with more high-end companies such as office brands Lammhults and Bene, as well as Danish companies Hay and Fritz Hansen. The latter company’s iconic Egg lounge chair, designed by Arne Jacobsen, is made entirely in Poland.

A worker in one of IKEA's Polish facilities. Image courtesy IKEA

Poland is already the world’s third-largest exporter of furniture, after China and Germany, with nearly 90% of its furniture production sent abroad. For now, a relatively small percentage of those goods are going to the U.S., which was the sixth-largest destination for Polish furniture last year, but the market share has been growing. Since 2010, it has almost doubled from 200.7 million euros ($223 million) to 384 euros ($427 million) in 2018, according to B+R Studio, which analyzes the Polish furniture market.

This uptick can be attributed in part to Poland’s hunger to reach new markets. “If we want ‘made in Poland’ furniture to be high-margin, it must be a recognizable brand all over the world,” said Jadwiga Emilewicz, the country’s former minister for entrepreneurship and technology, earlier this year. Indeed, the Polish consulate in New York has hosted events to promote the country’s furniture industry and Polish brands are a growing presence at U.S. trade shows including High Point Market.