Polish Bentwood Chair Maker Fameg Files for Bankruptcy After 145 Years as Cheap Imports Surge

Filing and financial losses

Radomsko-based bentwood furniture manufacturer Fameg submitted a bankruptcy application to the District Court in Piotrków Trybunalski on 29 September 2026. The court entered the filing into its business register on 1 October 2026 under case reference PT1P/GU/309/2026. The move follows an unsuccessful court-supervised restructuring arrangement approved in March 2025 and finalized in August 2025. That plan divided creditors into 14 categories and proposed repayment periods between 24 and 60 months alongside partial debt reductions, while pledging full repayment of employee liabilities.

Financial statements document escalating losses over three consecutive years. Fameg recorded a net loss of 1.53 million PLN in 2022, which widened to 2.30 million PLN in 2023 and reached 14.21 million PLN in 2024. Total operating revenue in 2024 stood at 99.6 million PLN against expenses of 113.8 million PLN. The company has not published financial results for 2025.

Heritage and declining output

Founded in 1881 in Radomsko, Fameg developed as a continuation of the bentwood furniture manufacturing methods established by Michael Thonet under the "Bracia Thonet" brand. The enterprise is fully owned by Polwos, with Tomasz Polanowski serving as president of the management board.

Production volumes at the Radomsko plant have contracted steadily. At peak operations, the factory produced 8,000 chairs per day, later falling to approximately 5,000, and recently dropping to 2,000 units daily. In 2024, the company produced and sold over 252,000 pieces of furniture, compared to over 239,000 pieces in 2023, with export markets accounting for 45% of total sales revenue. Staffing levels decreased from 587 employees at the end of 2023 to 518 at the end of 2024, of which 398 were direct production staff. Over 500 remaining positions are now at risk.

Sector crisis and foreign competition

Fameg's insolvency filing occurs against broader contraction across the Polish furniture industry. Michał Strzelecki, director of the office of the Polish Chamber of Commerce of Furniture Manufacturers, pointed to cumulative cost increases and aggressive price competition from Asian suppliers.

This is the result of the industry's lack of competitiveness, expensive and increasingly hard-to-obtain raw materials, high electricity costs, and rising wages, which over the last few years have risen sharply, disproportionately to productivity.

Sector-wide data reflects these structural pressures. Average monthly gross salaries in the furniture manufacturing industry climbed 50% between January 2022 and July 2026, reaching 7,065 PLN. Industry employment fell by approximately 30,000 positions over the same four-year span. At the same time, furniture imports from China to Poland increased from 545 million euros in 2019 to 1.1 billion euros in 2025, representing roughly 35% of total Polish furniture imports according to B+R Studio. Bank Pekao data indicates domestic sales dropped 8% and exports fell 5% during the first half of 2026. Data from credit insurer Coface recorded 82 bankruptcies among Polish furniture producers in 2025, following 53 in 2023 and 22 in 2021.

Tomasz Wiktorski, managing director of B+R Studio, described the sustained downturn across the market.

We have had a downturn for the fourth consecutive year. Over the last year, I do not recall a conversation with furniture makers that had any positive tone.