One of Indaux’s hallmarks is that of having built solid and durable relationships with different companies around the world. In Spain, one of these is Fergarcía, a company founded in 1908 as a hardware store, but in the 60s it became a hardware distributor for the furniture industry of La Senia, Tarragona. With 35 employees, today Fergarcía distributes throughout the Iberian Peninsula and has created a packaging business unit, and supplies assembly kits in bags. With this strategy, it has managed to convert some suppliers into customers, such as Indaux.
The initial contact of Indaux with Fergarcía was made at the end of the 60s, when Julio Allepuz went to a fair to look for suppliers. Since then, we have seen both companies grow together. “Since their production is in Spain, Indaux gives us a lot of flexibility at demand peaks. In addition to product innovation and approved and certified manufacture, Indaux provides us with market knowledge. When Covid started, the first telephone call I made to see what the situation was like at global level was to Mikel Arzallus, Indaux’s Sales & Marketing Manager”, said Carol Allepuz, manager of the firm. For Indaux, Fergarcía was one of its first customers in Spain and Portugal and it distributed practically the entire catalogue: hangers, eccentric cam fittings, doors, feet, hinges, etc.
As is the case in many parts, the pandemic has been disruptive to internal operation and required the establishment of protocols, although due to its geographical isolation, the region has had very few cases. La Senia has 5000 inhabitants and half of its population actively works in the furniture industry. “We are an exception to the trend of people migrating to big cities. Here there is a tradition of transforming the wood that was cut down in the forests. From the end of the 19th century, an entire ecosystem has been created around furniture which I see as a heroic stand against globalisation. It is difficult for us to attract talent“, explained Allepuz, who said that this cluster was studied by the Harvard Business School. At its own pace, the cluster has been modernising and there are increasingly more women in positions of responsibility. “Acceptance has been growing steadily. Each gender has its own way of doing things. Society still has challenges such as balancing work and family, but it is evolving”, concluded Carolina Allepuz, who hopes that the pandemic is also an opportunity for talent to rediscover the advantages of living in natural environments.
