Camif

Alternative to IKEA and furniture chains that sell flat-pack furniture made far away

Screenshot of Camif (1 of 4)Open the website of Camif (new tab)
  • Screenshot of Camif (1 of 4)
  • Screenshot of Camif (2 of 4)
  • Screenshot of Camif (3 of 4)
  • Screenshot of Camif (4 of 4)

Description

Camif is a French online furniture and home shop that sells only products made in Europe, 70 % of them in France according to its own figures, and shows on each product page where it was made.

It began in 1947 as a cooperative that helped teachers furnish their homes, went bankrupt in 2008, and was relaunched online in 2009 by Emery Jacquillat. In 2020 it became one of the first French “entreprises à mission”, a status that writes a social and environmental purpose into the statutes and requires a yearly mission report. The mutual insurers MAIF and MGEN are now its majority shareholders. Since 2021 it no longer sells products made outside Europe, and in 2017 it was the first French shopping site to boycott Black Friday.

The range covers sofas, beds and mattresses, tables, storage and decoration. In November 2026 a solid wood trundle bed cost €509 and a French-made sofa bed about €1,700. Relay-point delivery starts at €3.90 and home delivery at €9.90, and an old sofa, mattress or piece of furniture is taken back free when the new one is delivered.

Strengths

  • Each product page states the country of manufacture, and a filter shows only items made in France.
  • The mission status comes with a published yearly report, and the company is owned by two French mutual insurers.
  • Old furniture, sofas and mattresses are collected free at delivery, under conditions listed on the delivery page.

Weaknesses

  • Prices are well above IKEA, and some cheaper items are veneered or decor-finished rather than solid wood.
  • The 70 % made-in-France figure is Camif’s own, and no independent audit of it was found.
  • There is no second-hand, rental or repair offer, so it still sells mostly new furniture.

Who it is for

Households in France who are buying new furniture and want to know where it was made, and are ready to pay more than at a chain store for it.

Sources

  • TEAM 7

    TEAM 7 is an Austrian maker of solid wood furniture, from tables and beds to wardrobes and kitchens, made to order in Upper Austria from European hardwoods glued without formaldehyde and finished…

  • Grüne Erde

    Grüne Erde is an Austrian maker of natural mattresses, beds and wood furniture, with home textiles and cosmetics. Its mattresses are made by hand in Upper Austria from wool, natural latex, coconut…

  • Pickawood

    Pickawood is a German online shop for made-to-measure furniture: tables, shelves, sideboards, wardrobes and beds configured on the website to the centimetre, in solid wood or in panels, and built by…

  • Ostheimer

    Ostheimer makes wooden toy figures and animals by hand in Zell unter Aichelberg near Stuttgart, from wood from Central European forests, painted and dipped in oil, and is owned by a non-profit…

  • Reuse Network (formerly Furniture Re-use Network)

    Reuse Network, called the Furniture Re-use Network until 2018, is the UK umbrella charity of local charities and social enterprises that collect donated furniture and appliances and pass them on at…