Krakowskie Fabryki Mebli

Country

Poland

Location

Kraków

Designers

Marian Grabiński, Lejkowski & Leśniewski

Krakowskie Fabryki Mebli (KFM) was a state-owned furniture enterprise in Kraków, established after the Second World War on the basis of the nationalised factory of Szymon Abraham Manny, merged with other pre-war Kraków furniture manufacturers. Before the war, Manny’s company operated a factory complex at 98 Główna Street (now 35 Zakopiańska Street) in Łagiewniki. After the war, the plant was incorporated into Zjednoczenie Przemysłu Meblarskiego (Furniture Industry Union) in Poznań, and from 1 January 1952 it was among the 43 enterprises subordinate to Centralny Zarząd Przemysłu Meblarskiego (Central Board of the Furniture Industry).

At the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, the factory in Łagiewniki was modernised and expanded; the new plant was operating there in 1962. In 1972, a branch was opened in Płaszów, and in 1974 Brzeskie Zakłady Przemysłu Terenowego was incorporated. Ultimately, KFM comprised plants in Łagiewniki, Płaszów, Bieżanów and Brzesko. Production was sold on the domestic market and exported. From 1964 to 1986, the design department was headed by Bogusław Kuplowski, who had joined the company in 1962; Bogdan Wells, Jan Wędzicha, Andrzej Wieczorek and Winicjusz Moskal, among others, collaborated with the plant. In 1955, bedroom set no. 1120 entered production.

In the 1980s, the enterprise encountered difficulties: in 1986, a bank declared that it had lost its creditworthiness, and in 1987 exports to Eastern markets collapsed. In 1988, KFM was taken over by Furnel International, which also took over its export contracts, including those with IKEA. The liquidation of the plant was ordered on 26 March 1992 and completed on 30 June 1994; part of its assets was taken over by the employee-owned company Krakowska Fabryka Mebli.