Louvre International Furniture Exhibition Centre

Why the photography rules exist here and not downstairs

At the budget end nobody minds you photographing anything, because the product is largely common property already and everyone's selling a version of it. At this end the design is the asset. A showroom that spent real money developing a range doesn't want it on a factory floor in a different province by the end of the month.

So the rule isn't rudeness and it isn't aimed at you personally. Ask at the door, explain you're a buyer, and you'll usually get a yes with conditions. Shoot first and you'll get a no that follows you around the building.

Negotiation works differently at the top of the market

Downstairs, price moves on volume and it moves fast. Here it moves on relationship and on what you're actually buying, and a hard early push on price tends to end the conversation rather than open it.

What does move: packing, delivery timing, spare parts, and whether they'll hold a design for you. If you want a discount, ask about those first and let the price come up later. It's slower and it lands better.

Something worth knowing: the tag price at this end has more room in it than at the budget halls, not less. The margin is wider because the volume is lower. You just can't get at it in one conversation.

Who genuinely should not come here

If you're filling a retail shop with mid market product, an afternoon at Louvre is entertainment rather than research. The build quality and the price both sit above where you're selling.

The exception is worth making though. Come once anyway, early in your first trip, purely to see the ceiling. Knowing what the top of this market looks like changes how you read everything below it, and it takes two hours.

Size and layout

The centre gives its own floor area as about 380,000 square metres, carrying over 2,000 Chinese furnishing brands and more than 100 European ones.

Before you walk in

Ask before you photograph. Some showrooms here restrict it to protect designs, and getting walked out of a hall on your first morning costs you the whole building.

You'll walk further than you think. Wear the shoes you'd wear to a factory, not the ones you'd wear to a meeting.

Where this comes from: Published figures from the centre and from public listings. Not yet checked on site. On how facts are handled here.

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