Chinese electronics and home appliances retailer Five Star Appliance formally announced plans to enter the home decoration and renovation sector with a new sub-brand named "Sigma Life".

Sigma Life's main products will cover medium- and high-end kitchenware, dining china, and bedding. The stores aim to provide one-stop shopping of home appliances and decorating products.

Sigma Life will first launch store-in-store in the owned chain stores of Five Star Appliance and then plans to open independent stores in the future. It is expected to open 20 outlets before the end of 2017 and it plans to have 100 stores within three years. The first Sigma Life store will be opened in Five Star Appliance's new store in Ningbo in April 2017.

Sigma Life will adopt an "integrated store" operating model. Its operating areas for individual stores will be between 200 and 1,000 square meters and each store will have 1,500 to 2,000 SKUs. With scene displays of dining rooms, kitchens, living rooms, and bedrooms, Sigma Life stores target middle-class families and young people who pursue a better quality of life.

Sigma Life will mainly provide medium- and high-end products, covering mainstream brands from Germany, Italy, America, Japan, and South Korea. In addition, they will hold cooking, pottery, tea and floral courses in stores from time to time, to improve interactions with consumers.

(Source: chinaretailnews.com)