As a former top rower you are used to training regularly. How did top sport help you in your current job?

Vladimír Borovička:Above all, I would like to say that my boss Jiří Kejval was rowing. And I always wanted to achieve the best results in rowing. But at some stage you realize that medals are not important, that what the sport gives you is important. It's about focusing on a goal. I think rowing is one of the toughest sports: both physically and mentally because it is a power endurance. You are rowing two kilometers 7 minutes to the maximum possible performance. Therefore, a comparison with the furniture industry is offered. That is also a very hard field for me. The cost of becoming a joiner today is very low and you can become very easy with the furniture manufacturer. But it's about working long-term on the goal you want to achieve. For me, the dealership was the goal. That's not half a year, but ten years of focused, focused work.

How can one use the discipline and concentration that sport requires in business, or in the management of a large company?

As I said, discipline and concentration are linked to the goal you want to achieve in a given market. However, managing a company will not teach you sport, you have to learn it yourself. I would divide it into two parts: the first is a focused long-term focus on one thing. The second thing is managing people, which sport doesn't teach you, I still need to learn it today.

Gradually, your brand moves from the lowest to the middle office furniture segment. There are more and more players on the market and you are getting more and more. What is the position of the Interior Říčany brand on the Czech market today?

I wouldn't say that the interior of Říčany was always the lowest office furniture segment. It is a company with a rich history that was created in the past. I would like the interior of Říčany, even if I may be laughing, like Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley is a city focused on the IT market. The complex world of business, but also real people. The interior of Říčany was founded in 1978 and employed almost the entire city. She had her housing estate, a sewage treatment plant, her train sidings, and exported furniture to the entire eastern block. In my opinion it was something that will never be repeated again. And it is not our goal. After various peripets, the interior of Říčany came under the wing of our parent company TECHO and here we started in the lower segment of office furniture. However, the lower segment does not mean lower quality. Because quality is something what we are very proud of in the whole group. Laminated-chipboards, rootstocks, metal elements… everything is made in the spirit and quality of the Royal Ahrend Group, which includes both TECHO and Interior Říčany, as well as many other manufacturing companies. They are all focused on environmental policy and the recyclability of all elements. Certainly, quality does not rank in lower office furniture. Of course, over time, even under market pressure, we had to expand our portfolio of not only the type of furniture we have in stock, but also the furniture in the B2C segment. And recently we have been focusing on hotels, where we are able to offer not only excellent quality of delivered products but also service. This is very important today when you want to be successful in achieving and realizing big orders, not just for hotel operators. metal elements… everything is made in the spirit and quality of the Royal Ahrend Group, which includes both TECHO and Interior Říčany, as well as many other manufacturing companies. They are all focused on environmental policy and the recyclability of all elements. Certainly, quality does not rank in lower office furniture. Of course, over time, even under market pressure, we had to expand our portfolio of not only the type of furniture we have in stock, but also the furniture in the B2C segment. And recently we have been focusing on hotels, where we are able to offer not only excellent quality of delivered products but also service. This is very important today when you want to be successful in achieving and realizing big orders, not just for hotel operators. metal elements… everything is made in the spirit and quality of the Royal Ahrend Group, which includes both TECHO and Interior Říčany, as well as many other manufacturing companies. They are all focused on environmental policy and the recyclability of all elements. Certainly, quality does not rank in lower office furniture. Of course, over time, even under market pressure, we had to expand our portfolio of not only the type of furniture we have in stock, but also the furniture in the B2C segment. And recently we have been focusing on hotels, where we are able to offer not only excellent quality of delivered products but also service. This is very important today when you want to be successful in achieving and realizing big orders, not just for hotel operators. They are all focused on environmental policy and the recyclability of all elements. Certainly, quality does not rank in lower office furniture. Of course, over time, even under market pressure, we had to expand our portfolio of not only the type of furniture we have in stock, but also the furniture in the B2C segment. And recently we have been focusing on hotels, where we are able to offer not only excellent quality of delivered products but also service. This is very important today when you want to be successful in achieving and realizing big orders, not just for hotel operators. They are all focused on environmental policy and the recyclability of all elements. Certainly, quality does not rank in lower office furniture. Of course, over time, even under market pressure, we had to expand our portfolio of not only the type of furniture we have in stock, but also the furniture in the B2C segment. And recently we have been focusing on hotels, where we are able to offer not only excellent quality of delivered products but also service. This is very important today when you want to be successful in achieving and realizing big orders, not just for hotel operators. And recently we have been focusing on hotels, where we are able to offer not only excellent quality of delivered products but also service. This is very important today when you want to be successful in achieving and realizing big orders, not just for hotel operators. And recently we have been focusing on hotels, where we are able to offer not only excellent quality of delivered products but also service. This is very important today when you want to be successful in achieving and realizing big orders, not just for hotel operators.

Today Říčany is not only a furniture manufacturer and seller. More and more often you are a supplier of complex interiors. What projects do you currently address?

In recent years we have moved to the position of general supplier of complex interiors. Above all, it is a guarantee of guarantees, supplies in the standard and quality that our dealers and partners are used to. We are currently addressing three major projects: the first is the Hotel Horal in Špindlerův Mlýn, the second is the Škoda Auto showrooms project (one of our key customers for many years). And the third is Kaufland. Here we also beat the German office furniture manufacturers in the tender. The process of selecting office furniture for Kaufland took a year and I am very proud to have succeeded. We offered quality and Czech art, which won over German products.

Opening a showroom on an area of ​​more than 500 m2 will present not only the current Alfa bestsellers but also new collections. Can you bring them closer?

After several years of moving, our shareholders decided that it was necessary to find a representative space. And we didn't look for him in the center. We are proud of our production, so our new showroom stands beside our production. Here we present not only new tables, but we also have a rich history of Říčany. The tradition of the original brand meets new products here. We return to wood: a material that is recyclable, ecological and environmental. We are introducing a new type of Alfa Root table as well as our second bestseller - the Alfa Up height-adjustable table. We focus not only on the design and technical side of products, but also on the health of our clients. Therefore, Alfa Up tables are height-adjustable and help to improve employee performance. Moving at the table, that is, sitting and standing is, in my opinion, a crucial thing that is in line with today's trend.

You have been in the business for more than ten years. Where do you think the office furniture market will move in the near future? What are the trends?

I think the office furniture market is one of the most difficult. When you decide to go to a DIY shop, cut off a plate and buy four legs for it, you become a competition for us. The entry into the office furniture market is simple, there is a system of components for the production of kitchen units, for the production of office furniture… A jigsaw puzzle that everybody can handle. However, the office market is also one of the most stable sectors that is not subject to radical changes. We'll always need lockers. Various expert studies say that the amount of office space is decreasing, but when I watch both the state and European bureaucracy, which is growing steadily, I do not think that fewer cabinets are needed. On the contrary, I assume that the office will grow in the future and that there will be more pressure on the comfort of employees. There will be a greater demand for height-adjustable tables, adjustable chairs, etc., so that the employee can stretch or even relax after lunch. Large international office rental companies say offices almost disappear. I disagree with it, on the contrary, I say that the footage of the shelves will grow, the storage space will always be needed and the office space will become an indicator for the future in which the company is in shape and cares for its employees.

Last year you did not hesitate to "deploy life" and in regular videos you represented the IŘ brand: from paddling on an office desk to lifting a passenger car to Alpha tables. Videos aroused quite a stir and brought a number of ratings to the market. How do you rate this marketing retroactively?

The companies that sell office furniture do not like the fact that they are sometimes too tight. It's just office furniture, we're not doctors and we don't operate the heart. It's just furniture and my motto is "always smiling". I'm trying to charge people around me with positive energy. Not to be stiff, and to wear a jacket, I'm not a classic gray office furniture retailer. Of course, I know that this marketing has gone out of the Czech color and has certainly aroused a stir. However, he did our job and it is videos that we will still use a lot . Our market message is now that we build everything on people and on the related service. That is why Marian Jelínek, coach of Jaromír Jágr, who will be interesting to talk about people (whether employees or customers) and their values, will also come to the showroom opening.

In conclusion, where should the interior of Říčany be in five years? Where is your business going?

It's very simple. The IRR furniture deserves to return to its positions it had in recent years. I do not mean only post-revolutionary, but also pre-revolutionary. With the production behind us, we deserve to go to Europe. At the moment, we are doing several international tenders and I am looking forward to succeeding. We certainly deserve the European market. 
More at www.interier-ricany.cz

Portraits: Peter Fabo

Source: www.idealab.cz