Italian furniture brands targeting medium and high income clients began the battle over the Romanian market by opening showrooms. "Opening a showroom results into a sales boost, while the investment is recovered quite easily," Alessandro Cecchini, regional manager of Italian company Berloni, said at the official opening of the Berloni showroom in Bucharest.
The Omnitech Trading company, the Italian producer's sole representative in Romania ever since 1996, holds the showroom.
Berloni is one of the best-known Italian furniture brands and the company posts the largest annual sales outside its country of origin. The company's turnover amounts to 500 million euros.
The value of the showroom opened yesterday exceeds 1.6 million euros, Omnitech officials mentioned, adding the investment was entirely financed from the company's own resources. The company's officials estimate the sales will at least double in 2004 as compared to this year, when orders were made by catalogue. "After we open the showroom, we expect sales to increase significantly and exceed 2.5 million euros, up from 1 million euros this year," Raluca Voicu, marketing director of the group, said.
Spanning on 650 square metres, the store displays some 40 solutions for home decoration, chiefly for kitchens. Within the same space, Marazzi products are also exhibited. Marazzi is one of the largest ceramics producers in Europe.
The price for a kitchen entirely fitted out by Berloni ranges between 3,000-20,000 euros, but it may also be bought in instalments. "In Italy, Berloni targets the medium-low income clients, but in Romania, where the purchasing power is lower, it eyes the medium-high income clients," Cecchini also said.
Omnitech holds the franchises for over 20 international producers of construction equipment, hardware and software solutions. Omnitech expects to cash 6.5 million euros this year, some 2 million euros more than last year.
The main competitors of the Berloni brand on the Romanian furniture market are Rovere and Innova. Rovere Mobili opened in February this year a furniture showroom stretching on 1,100 square metres. However, the company's officials did not disclose the value of the investment. georgiana.stavarache@zf.ro
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