"BIZNES meble.pl" international 1/2018

proğle X chillout international edition 1/2018 [ BIZNES meble.pl 117 S ince I was 19 years old, that is 6 years ago, I have worked with Dad. As soon as we started working to- gether, my dad talked a lot about trade fairs, that there is a lack of them in Poland. The first steps we had taken in the shopping centre in Rzgów, near Lodz. The facility located there has been adapted to the requirements of the exhibition business. We organized a fa- shion fair and I also participated in the project – she recalls the beginnings of a professional career. The Ptak Fashion City (Centrum Handlowe Ptak) itself is an exhibition facility, but it is a permanent exhibition – 2.5 thousand shops and 250 thou- sand m 2 under the roof. We have gar- ment manufacturers and we are constant- ly bringing them contracting clients who buy in bulks. This way we were able to create in Rzgów outlet of Polish clothing. Customers come from all over the world – mainly from Eastern Europe. But there is also growing number of customers from Western Europe. Polish clothing is well- known around the world, it has very good quality – says Kasia Ptak. THERE WAS LITERALLY NOTHING HERE YESTERDAY A few years ago Antoni Ptak invested in Nadarzyn (city near Warsaw). Four years ago the modernization of the Ptak Warsaw Expo International Exhibition and Congress Centre was completed. Ptak Warsaw Expo consists of 6 modern exhibition halls with a total inner space of 143 thousand m 2 and 500 thousand m 2 of external space. Kasia Ptak has been working in the Nadarzyn since the establishment of the facility in 2015. Just 3 years ago there was nothing here. Today we organize more than 30 events a year, the pace of devel- opment is swift. I am involved in some projects personally, but ‘Warsaw Home’ is the most important for me. This is my child and I would like this fair to be an European event, so that it can be named alongside Cologne, Milan and Paris. This is my aim. – she explains – I believe that after this year’s edition of ‘Warsaw Home’, a large number of people from abroad has learnt of our fair event. Of course, we in- form widely that such fair is taking place, because people are most important for us and we want them to come to us, see and maybe decide to exhibit next year. If, af- ter two years, we have 3 halls, then it is absolutely possible to have 6 of them next year. This is real and if we succeed, we will create a huge trade fair of unprecedented scale in Poland, in terms of size compara- ble to the largest trade fairs abroad. Such a big event, with such a large number of companies involved, basically promotes itself. Nevertheless we obviously initiate marketing actions, also abroad – from Europe to Far East Asia. We build huge databases, we have call centres – 60 people make a lot of phone calls daily and com- plete information. ‘Warsaw Home’ is an event ad- dressed to three categories of clients: to the furniture or interior furnishing distributors, to the clients that order furniture in bulk (e.g. to the hotels or offices or architects, responsible for de- signing office or hotel interiors) and to the local end consumers. The first two categories are the most important for us. If we are able to provide such clients to our customers, they will exhibit next year – emphasizes Kasia Ptak. Can this business model that works so well in case of clothing be translated literally into furniture industry? It will not function exactly the same, that is for sure. Clothing and furniture differ significantly, e.g. in terms of specifics of orders. But there are shopping centres in the world, like in China, where there are furniture of very high quality bought in bulk on permanent basis. If we were to concentrate major Polish furniture manu- facturers in one place and this place would be recognizable, then, I think, it would be an interesting proposition for the market – she answers. DAD IS ALWAYS RIGHT She was introduced into business by her father, Antoni Ptak – one of the largest and most renowned Polish entrepreneurs. Dad always worked very hard. He often left the house at 5am, and even earlier, to make sure everything works properly in the halls. Even when he was at home he talked almost exclusively about the work. For me it was a difficult childhood – I rarely saw my dad, but later when it was all over, when my dad was older and I was 16-17 years old, he was a little more at home, he was more present and he spent more time It was her father who got her into exhibition business. He inspired her to work hard every day and thought to think positively. In order to work with him, she resigned from her studies at Regent’s College in London. Kasia Ptak, head of the ‘Warsaw Home’ fair, second edition of which took place in October 2017. I ALWAYS HAVE FAITH INWHAT IbDO M a r e k H r y n i e w i c k i f