Vf: To cut it short, today’s, FARM is more than 1200 employees & more than 30 000 sqr. Meters of warehouse space, more than 60 shops, 27 regional offices & the central office in Moscow. Besides the wholesale distributive network the company is actively developing its own distributive network inFORMAT .

Vf: FARM is one of the first companies to begin opening its own branches. At first we did it very actively, then the strategy has changed — we do still open branches but we do that more selectively . Now the company opens offices in those regions where there’s a need to strengthen our position. Today we have branches in Arkhangelsk, Belgorod, Bryansk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Vologda, Ivanovo, Izhevsk, Kazan, Kursk, Lipetsk, Moscow, Murmansk, Orel, Penza, Ryazan, Samara, Cherepovets, St.Petersburg, Saratov, Smolensk, Syktyvkar, Tambov, Tver, Ufa, Cheboksary, Yaroslavl. The last one was opened in Volgograd last year.

Vf: We have a clear distributional policy; its possible to become our wholesale client even in the regions where we aren’t represented well. In the regions where FARM has reliable partners or a subsidiary its much harder to become a wholesale customer of the central office because we recommend them to cooperate with the regional distributers or the regional branches. The fact is that we don’t try & work with everyone but we would like to attend the required level in each region. To make the system stable we need a clear distributive policy — we never sell products to our partners’ competitors. We understand well that if we start working with several companies in one region they will compete with one another. Nobody can get profits from such competition. A few of our customers can work in one region but their ways should not cross together.
If you mean becoming our end-customer it’s very easy to become one — just call the nearest of our 27 offices or visit one of our shops.

Vf: Yes, of course, we aim to get closer to end-purchasers opening new branches. Our certain branches aren’t only for wholesalers they can also open up new shops in the region & are actively engaged in corporate sales.

Vf: There are two types of catalog in the company — brand inFORMAT which is used by our sales managers & the second — an anonymous stationery produce catalog which is used by our wholesales distributors giving the contacts of their own companies in that. The catalog fits for the corporate segment — in addition to office products & papers there are also household goods, office equipment, furniture,& other necessary goods for a modern office functioning. Totally the company product line consists of more than 8 000 items by famous Russian & foreign brands including our own brands too.

Vf: No, there are no prices because the catalog is a universal sales mechanism that can be used by the company’s partners who set the prices themselves according to the situation at the market.

Vf: now there are three our own trademarks included all the groups of stationery products

SchoolFORMAT is a medium trademark its intended for pupils of different ages. Its design were chosen by schoolers. The line consists of more than 300 items. Its high quality & functionality, safety let the brand establish itself on the Russian school stationery market.

inFORMAT is modern office stationery. The brand product line has everything what can be needed in the office: more than 900 items from drawing pins to wall clock. All the goods have modern design & meet the European & Russian standards.

Kalyaka-Malyaka brand is designed especially for children from 3 to 10 years old. Parents buying goods for their children place increased demands on them. They must be sure in the quality & safety of the products. They want them to help the children’s development. We understand well our goal audience & in my opinion, we have created a successful product for the Russian market, that stands out for the low price among the European counterparts & isn’t inferior to them by quality. Kalyaka-Malyaka product line is demanded by customers, the brand shows impressive growth every year, the thing that confirms its popularity.
One of our main goals is the developing of these brands. This provides more stability to the market & the competitiveness to our company & therefore to our partners because they have a unique & demanded product in their regions. The sales practice shows that focusing on our own brands we keep in the right track. Even during the years of market falls our own brands are ahead of the others.

Vf: we have the wholesale segment & branches. The former has already finished the latter is finishing. The results of branch work is not defined yet, but it’s safe to say that’s where we were closer to the customers the season went very well. Unfortunately we can’t say the same about the wholesale part where there still feels a crisis. The market isn’t stable. Earlier, before the crisis, season sales rate was obvious & didn’t change from year to year, now it changes each year. Some companies get overstocked at the beginning of the year, some on the contrary, play safe& begin to buy more in the middle of the year, so the monthly figure isn’t entirely predictable, but anyway everything goes within the range of forcasting. I can say that August was very good for us. September is expected to be good as well.

Vf: We have different competitors in each sales channel. We compete with all major federal companies in the wholesale segment. Competitive pressure increases every year, it doesn’t let us relax & keep on our toes.

Vf: Paradoxically, our main competitor is the manufacturer. The manufacturer who drains away our clients in a pursuit for phantom sales & if we can successfully compete with the Fed on prices, service, & working conditions, it’s difficult to compete with the manufacturer on prices. For this reason the proportion of Russian products in our commercial matrix increases very slowly.

Vf: we are one of the first Russian stationery company to work actively with local producers. In 1995 we initiated the establishment of the Stationery Manufacturers Association, joined by both the oldest domestic enterprises & new companies seeking for their own place in the market. The associational principal is mutual support & assistance. This includes everything: joint projects, experience exchange, sample providing, database exchange. The Association had another principle task: making the domestic & foreign consumers realize that Russia is able to produce high quality office produce. For this reason, the participants took part in stationery industry exhibition in Frankfurt. The union let us & the producers get through the difficult times & the later crisis.
Now we maintain close relationships with wide known Russian companies: Luch, Globus, Gamma, Art Materials, STAMM, SZLK, & many others. Our turnover includes more than 30% of Russian made products. We are happy to sell products manufactured in Russia.

Vf: We place orders at out partners’ plants & sell them both under our or their TMs. It is worth noticing we really appreciate the partnership both with clients & producers.
That’s why we try & make the produce on the plants where we have really trusting relationships where there’s mutual understanding. We need to be sure that the partners wont fail us & the goods will be delivered on time & in the right quality.

Vf: Industry shows are undoubtedly important. The stationery business is no exception. The exhibition lets you explore the products line of the colleagues & communicate with clients & suppliers at the same place. But I think that it’s enough to have one spring show in Russia. Experience shows that the spring exhibition is the most actual because unlike office products school ones need to be demonstrated annually. That should be done in spring when one chooses a product line for the school season. That’s the reason why the spring show is more popular & demanded than the autumn one which is getting less important from year to year. Lots of regional clients see no need to visit it.

Vf: As I’ve said before we are focusing on designing & developing our own brands, our distributive & branch network is going to be developed as well. Our goal is selling our brands all over Russsia. We are trying to become even closer to our customers through either our distributors or branches.

Vf: No we don’t yet work with the networks because they compete with our partners & "break"the market prices. We want to develop our partners & don’t go into the federal networks. Wait & see.