Markor International Home Furnishings is well-poised to capture the China market for residential furniture thanks to an ever-expanding network of retail stores.

The company opened its first store in 2002, a 40,000 square-foot location in Tianjin. Today it has 88 locations including 12 flagship stores that are about 60,000 square feet by comparison in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dalian, Nanjing, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Ningbo. The largest store, which is more than 93,000 square feet, is located in Chengdu.

In addition to Markor product, the stores also sell Ethan Allen as well as product from Caracole, one of its U.S.-based brands. Ethan Allen has had a presence in the Markor stores dating back to 2002, showing a wide selection of its adult and youth furniture collections, the latter of which recently expanded to include its licensed Disney line.

Farooq Kathwari, Chairman, President and CEO of Ethan Allen, said that about 18 years ago, Markor Founder Richard Feng visited Ethan Allen at its headquarters in Danbury, Ct. to discuss his desire to open retail in China. Kathwari then went to the company’s headquarters in Urumqi to further discuss Feng’s vision.

Over the years, Kathwari said, Ethan Allen has been very pleased with its association with Markor.

“Richard Feng and Markor are the story of China. With passion, hard work, and major investments they have developed a large retail network ,” he said. “They have trained interior designers, run a training institute, and have also developed strong logistics. Ethan Allen reflects an American brand that is classic and modern and is liked by Chinese clients. The first store there opened in 2002 and at present they operate 88 stores in China and about 75% of the products are shipped from our North American manufacturing, mostly from the U.S.”

In one of Markor’s retail stores in Beijing, the different brands occupy the five different floors of the standalone building, with the Ethan Allen bedroom, dining, occasional and youth furniture occupying the basement floor.

The first or ground floor is devoted mostly to Caracole, offering a mix of some the company’s bestselling lines along with a section devoted to 170 fabrics and other custom options including leg treatments and nailhead trim.

“It is a very design-driven and fashion-driven brand,” said Fisher Wang, who handles product brand management and international affairs for Markor International Home Furnishings.

Upper floors showcase product from Markor, including its upper-end Black Label line as well as product from Caracole’s Signature and Compositions lines. In addition, the store featured a café area and a design center that allows customers pick different fabrics and even valance and curtain rod options.

As with the Beijing location, all the Markor stores are company-owned: 76 freestanding and the remaining 12 in furniture malls or shopping centers. The company plans to have a total of 140 stores by 2020, Wang noted.

As of early July, the company also had 119 locations for its U.S. -based A.R.T. Furniture brand averaging about 7,000 square feet, 111 of which are franchises. The first of these opened in July 2014, and there are plans to have 160 locations this year and 225 in 2020. These are mostly in mall locations although some are freestanding, Wang noted.

The company also had 25 stores devoted to A.R.T.’s Epicenters line, which offers lifestyle-themed groups designed around the architecture and culture of popular cities in the U.S. such as Miami and Austin.

With 21 franchises, four company-owned and all averaging about 3,000 to 4,000 square feet, they also are mostly in mall locations and operate independently from the A.R.T. stores, which would likely be on a different floor in the same mall. The company plans to have 100 Epicenters stores by the end of this year, 160 in 2019 and 250 in 2020.

Another major component of the company’s retail segment is the Markor Furnishings Retail Management Institute, which is located at the company’s corporate campus in Tianjin. In addition to the Markor, A.R.T. and Caracole lines, this facility provides training for other Markor brands sold in independent store locations that include YvvY and Rehome. The institute, started in July 2006, currently trains about 5,000 associates and sales professionals each year.

“Retail is a very big part of the business in China,” noted Angela Zhao, deputy general manager of Markor International Home Furnishings. “With the different brand-positioning strategy, the company covers differentiated consumer groups … and covers major domestic cities through direct sales, franchising, online and other sales channels in order to achieve the purpose of increasing operating income."

“We are a very unique brand in China, implementing a multi-brand strategy, building strong brand influence, personality and customer awareness, and we continue to create an outstanding customer experience.”

(Source: Furniture Today)