Italian leather and fabric upholstery brand Nicoletti Home and Chinese manufacturing and retail power Manwah Holdings have formed a strategic commercial partnership to consolidate Nicoletti Home’s presence in the Chinese market.

The agreement aims at establishing Nicoletti Home's retail network throughout continental China through a network of 50 Nicoletti Italia-branded stores, managed directly and through franchising by Manwah Holdings. Those stores will carry the brand's made-in-Italy product targeting an upscale market.

The first of those stores should open in November or December, and a build-out to the 50 Nicoletti Italia locations should be complete within five years, according to Eustachio Nicoletti, Nicoletti Home world commercial director. The company is backing the launch at the September furniture show in Shanghai.

A rendering of Nicoletti Home's Nicoletti Italia-branded store for the Chinese market.

“Entrusting the development of the Chinese market to such a renowned and reliable partner is for Nicoletti Home a guarantee of efficiency and rapid growth,” Nicoletti said. “The collection we are going to introduce in the 2018 Shanghai Exhibition with a 200-square-meter (2,100-plus square feet) showroom is addressed to a medium-high profile consumer, who appreciates excellent made in Italy products.”

Those stores should average 2,000 to 4,000 square feet, and the relatively small footprint reflects furniture retailing in China.

"In China, it's different — all the stores are inside furniture malls, not freestanding like you'd see in the U.S. market," Nicoletti noted.

The agreement also enables Nicoletti’s development of a collection at more accessible price points, which will be produced directly and exclusively for the Chinese market in Manwah’s facilities. Manwah will develop a 500-store retail network to support this new line targeting China.

“This second collection, manufactured in the Chinese facilities, will be designed by our Centro Studi and will have the flair and class of a typical NicolettiHome product,” Nicoletti said.

The agreement with Manwah strengthens the international presence of Nicoletti Home, which already deals in more than 70 countries, by accessing one of the most strategic emerging markets in the world. That includes a number of stores across Asia in Hong Kong, China, Indonesia and Korea.

Since its founding in 1992, Manwah has been a dedicated producer of sofas, mattresses, panel furniture and furniture accessories. Manwah has become one of the largest listed home furniture enterprises in Asia with a market capitalization exceeding $3.8 billion. Manwah reported almost $1.3 billion in sales in 2017.

Manwah’s "Cheers" brand has a retail network of more than 2,200 retail stores.

(Source: FurnitureToday)