A Chinese furniture retailer and manufacturer has opened a flagship store in Camperdown, Sydney to kick start a renewed expansion strategy into Australia. De Rucci is a manufacturer and retailer of furniture, established in China in 2004, with a network of 1800 stores throughout Asia. The Camperdown flagship is set on 750sqm on Sydney’s busy Parramatta Rd and is the eighth Australian store for the brand. Lucy Zhu, GM of De Rucci Australia, told Inside Retail PREMIUM the brand’s produc
t offering has been fine tuned to suit the needs of the Australian market.
“We have learnt that it is very important to localise our product offering so we have something for every Australian customer in the store,” said Zhu
Compared to Asia, the Australian customer tends more towards a firmer mattress and custom made furniture.
Zhu says the De Rucci brand has competitive advantages, with its own manufacturing facility enabling a strong focus on research and design, quality control, and the ability to provide custom made pieces for customers, with an eight to 10 week turnaround.
The company sees strong growth potential in Australia, with short term plans for the opening of a further four stores in Sydney and Melbourne in the next 12 to 18 months.
Due to an increase in brand awareness, store locations with high traffic, and the support of the Chinese community, De Rucci sales have doubled in all Australian stores over the past 12 months.
“From the progress in the last 12 months, we are confident that we have brought the right products to Australia, and it was a good investment for our long term future here.
“Building a strong local team and cultural integration will be important to our success in Australia,” she said.
This story first appeared in Inside Retail PREMIUM issue 2006.
