EU funds help: The former parquet shop now smells of carpentry (VIDEO)

Úvaly u Prahy – The new premises of eTruhlárna are the next step in the expansion of this company. Orders kept coming in, the original establishment in nearby Uhříněves became insufficient, and so the owners of the company - Zdeněk Lanc and Karel Kašička - decided to look for a new location. They found it in the dilapidated premises of the former parquet factory in Úvaly.

"We are both from Úvaly and proud of it, we know the place. There used to be a factory here, which was falling into disrepair, it was a derelict building. We were looking for suitable premises and believed that we would earn money soon, but we did not have enough funds for a new establishment. This brownfield was right in Úvaly, and we managed to contact the owner, who was based in Switzerland. The result of the negotiations was that we bought the premises and started to decide what to do with it," Karel Kašička describes the history.

JOINERY INSTEAD OF PARQUETS
The project to transform the unattractive nooks of the brownfield, formerly housing a well-known parquet factory, started in 2018. Construction began in 2020 and was completed at the end of last year.

The company moved from the Uhříněves carpentry workshop to Úvaly at the beginning of this year. The new building has modern, representative spaces that are very pleasant for both employees and customers. The premises include not only production, but also office and storage rooms.

The entire project cost almost CZK 67 million. The European Union contributed CZK 30 million from the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation for Competitiveness. The owners paid the rest from their own resources, they also took out a loan.

Typical joinery, but also atypical interiors. The scope of eTruhlárna's activities is wide – offices, receptions, bars, restaurants, kitchens, wall and ceiling coverings, furniture replicas, stairs, business units, equipment for public spaces, lobbies, hotel and also home furniture. The company can also handle the exterior appearance of buildings. It produces double-frame windows, doors, facade cladding, pergolas or garden furniture.

The history of eTruhlárna is seventeen years old. "Our first premises, about two hundred square meters, were in Kutnohorská Street in Uhříněves. After three years, we moved to a bigger space in Pitkovice, there it was seven hundred square meters. Another moving came in 2013. Back to Uhříněves, where we still have our registered office, it was over a thousand square meters. Well, now we are here in Úvaly - we have three and a half thousand square meters of area, adequate and representative space. Now we have to try hard to pay everything back," says Zdeněk Lanc.
 
THEY HAVE THIRTY EMPLOYEES
eTruhlárna currently employs over thirty people. "There are twenty people in the workshop, others assemble orders at customer sites and others sit in the office and take care of the running of the company. The foundation is made up of carpenters. As in all craft professions, there is a shortage of them. We are lucky that carpenters apply for a job with us. I would say that we have really high-quality craftsmen," Zdeněk Lanc explains.

The eTruhlárna company represents the German company Knauf Design from the Knauf Group, a world leading manufacturer of building materials, on the Czech market.

"With the products of this company, we are now able to implement interior solutions for administrative and public spaces in any design that, moreover, meets all EU standards," Karel Kašička points out. They also represent the Portuguese company Murato, which offers lining materials made of natural cork.

There are dozens of companies among the references on their website. "We could talk about interesting jobs for a long time, but I don't want to omit anyone. Even so, I will mention unusual orders - for example Czech Radio - Radiocafé in the historic building of Czech Radio in Vinohradská Street in Prague, or the interiors of TV Prima. Another one would be a concert hall for the headquarters of the Army of the Czech Republic in Dejvice, Prague, a contract for the Prague Zoo, but also dressing rooms for the Sparta soccer team. There was also an interesting assignment from the museum in Terezín," Zdeněk Lanc enumerates.

Both owners do not focus on just one group of customers. "We accept orders from individuals as well as large multinational companies," Zdeněk Lanc explains. When asked about the future, he says: "We have a vision, every entrepreneur should have one".

Photo: Deník daily/Klára Skálová