Pifflesnort - can't argue with the fact that economies of scale make mass-produced furniture cheaper to produce and therefore cheaper to buy. Obviously for some

Pifflesnort - can't argue with the fact that economies of scale make mass-produced furniture cheaper to produce and therefore cheaper to buy. Obviously for some people, cost will always be the primary factor when it comes to deciding what they purchase. However, as far as I understand it, low cost isn't really the USP here. Maybe someone will correct me on this, but i'd say that the more important factors are a) the environmental benefits of local production, and b) the potential for customisation. I think there's definitely a market for locally manufactured, non-air freighted furniture. People are willing to pay slightly more than they would at a supermarket in order to buy locally produced vegetables at a farmers' market, and the same group of people might well be attracted to the idea of buying locally produced furniture, even if they have to pay slightly more for it than they would do at IKEA - particularly if what they end up with is a unique piece of furniture that exactly fits the dimensions of the space they want to put it in.