Greek Furniture Firm Gets EBRD Funding Aid

From chic beds to stylish wardrobes, LETTO offers all the furniture a bedroom needs. A family-owned business based in Northern Greece, the company is now one of the country’s leading manufacturers of bedroom furniture.

Photo Insert: The Koios family, owners of LETTO, design and provide furniture to homes and hotels all over Greece and Cyprus.

When the time came to hone strategy and expand beyond local markets, LETTO turned to the EBRD for guidance. The Koios family, owners of LETTO, design and provide furniture to homes and hotels all over Greece and Cyprus.

With more than 50 years of expertise in the field and close to 100 points of sales, their clients include also some of the best hotels in holiday destinations such as Thessaloniki, Halkidiki, and the Greek islands. Their main target is now to boost their exports to other countries such as Germany, and Saudi Arabia.

There is a large furniture market in Greece, with very beautiful and functional designs mainly influenced by Italy, which was from where we acquired our know-how. However, exports are necessary because Greek homes and hotels are insufficient if we want to grow,” says Dimitra Papoutsi, LETTO’s Marketing Manager.

Through its Advice for Small Businesses program and with support from the European Union, the EBRD has helped the company with a new business strategy and sales plan.

“Admitting that you need a consultant and finding the right one is an immense process. Someone had to organize our thoughts and organize us as a team, too. The Bank helped us a lot with that,” says Dimitra.

The first project was to design a new strategic plan for the coming years. “We were very satisfied with the results, so the decision to proceed with the second project came easier, as we knew what we wanted to do and where to go for advice. The EBRD helped us find the right sales consultant, who is still with us and supports us on a weekly basis, even after the completion of the project,” she adds.

That helped the company deal with the COVID-19 crisis and its consequences. Last year was good for LETTO in terms of home furniture sales, with around a 37 percent increase in sales compared to 2019. With the EBRD’s help, the company managed to recover a large part of the turnover they lost from the hotel sector due to the crisis in tourism.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic