Spending 36 years under one company’s roof is not easy to summarise, the commitment it takes and the growth it provides leave words unable to describe. Yet for Nihat Çığrıkçı, day one feels like yesterday, and 36 years at Parla have passed in the blink of an eye.
“A rainy winter day in March”, says Nihat about his first day. After skimming the newspaper to find work, Nihat came across an ad to work at a modest furniture workshop. He took his chance and contacted Erdoğan Öztunçman, the current owners’ father. They met, agreed on Nihat’s start date, and the rest is history.
Nihat has become the embodiment of what Parla is, or vice versa. A story of humble beginnings, hardships, dedication to the craft and belief in good design.
He has seen the company’s growth from its small workshop to now, its upcoming new factory. As one of the backbones of the operation, a day at work for Nihat has changed instrumentally compared to day one. In the early days, Nihat was part of a team of just 6.
Then, around 2015, when Parla had no more than 60 employees, Nihat was in charge not only of receiving projects but also of overseeing a lot of the operations. He was “the man” to go to whenever things went south. He also had a reputation for playfully scolding anyone whom he saw as slightly slacking off.
Nowadays, he has had a change in regimen.
Nihat arrives at the factory at around 8.30 am and finishes the leftover work from yesterday. After making a to-do list for the day, he goes around the whole factory and greets everyone who has just started their shifts.
“I say good morning. I ask how everyone is doing. I don’t meddle in anyone’s business. But that’s just as of lately. For the past two years, everyone has had different responsibilities and we have production managers to do that.”
After the tour, a short break for breakfast and tea: the essentials. The rest of the day is calm and spent at his desk.
When asked about how he felt after taking a retrospective look at Parla’s journey, he marks a great shift in the last couple of years. “In terms of business volume, we grew exponentially in 2022–2023. We’ve been a furniture company focused entirely on exports for the past 3–4 years, consistently employing around 200 people. I’m also proud to be from Parla. I come to work with enthusiasm.”
An anecdote on Nihat’s enthusiasm is a revelation he made at the most recent internal Parla workshop: that he wished he could come to the factory on weekends too, as being at home is simply too boring.
This playful comment is monumental to his journey at Parla. A journey embedded with commitment, hardships, but also a lot of fun!
