Expert: Customisable Sofas Shall Prevail, Introducing New Pet-friendly Fabrics
A sofa can mean more than a cozy home, as it usually mirrors the owners’ taste and personal/family style. This echoes with Jane Tong, Co-founder and Managing Director of GIORMANI, and Kelvin Ng, Co-founder and Chief Designer, who founded the brand 25 years ago and have witnessed great changes in styles and tastes locally and abroad, no matter on functionality, materials, dyeing and other areas. With the number of pet owners growing, for example, the company launched a new fabric characterised by its scratch-proof and stain-resistant features, designed for homes with pets. Built on GIORMANI’s advantages, they also shared the key to the future growth: innovations and flexibility, crossover collaborations and social responsibility, which they hope to see a sustainable business momentum.
Creative collaborations
Spanning 15,000 sqft., Giormani’s flagship store – where this interview took place - piques customers’ five senses through experiences and offerings, providing a feast for the vision, smell, sound, taste and touch. Some examples include the ‘G.Life Café’, a crossover with premium coffee brand Ideaology for the discerning taste; or the simple yet pleasing mural paintings by local artists Moving Drawing (Charlotte Lui) for art fans; or the olive tree and plants in the middle of the shop under the sky-blue ceiling for the green lover. Jane explained that customers can enjoy different nature music at the sofas beside the tree, as if embraced by the mother nature via multi-sensory experiences.
“We want to bring customers not just shopping experience, but a kind of lifestyle and enlightenment. We try to let everyone express their unique style through a diverse showcase of original artworks matter personal or household, that matches with the preferences.”
Besides using demographics like age or gender, Jane would consider “lifestyle” like family structure, hobbies etc., to segment the market. So Kelvin would design the sofas according to the needs: for the young or humble dwellers, they might pick compact sofa with multiple functions, like sofa bed or with movable backrest, so they could change the use of sofa as needed, e.g. work-from-home or friends gathering.
For middle-class family, they might prefer recliner sofa or L-shaped for its comfort and durability, so they can rest after a day’s hard work. And for those with children and pets, fabric is normally the focus, so GIORMANI launched a water-, stain- and oil-proof fabric that is resistant to scratch and abrasion, which is also detachable from the core for washing.
Personalisation
Kelvin pointed out customisation of sofa will continue to reign in market, “Compared to the large living space in the foreign countries, the odd layouts in HK indeed set itself apart. Diamond-shaped apartments, irregular-sized rooms, rooms filled with windowsills etc., has made customised sofa necessary, and us full of experience. With more than 200 different colors of fabrics to choose from, we are committed to helping customers make the best use of their space and the most suitable products based on their needs.”
Kelvin recalled starting his collaboration with a German brand in 2003, which gave him insight into the production requirements and standards of high-quality sofas. Unfortunately the partner went bankrupt 3 years later, casting a large shadow on financing back then. “I realised the risk to rely solely on others in developing overseas markets; so Kelvin Giormani, our own brand, was borned taking advantage of our experience working with high-end European brands. Having easy access to Mainland China, we are able to offer one-stop service from production to after-sales and enjoy cost-effective operation, so the brand soon prospered in the overseas and we decided to expand to the local market in 2008, with a focus o high-end sofas."
Social Responsibility
Prioritising lifestyle and customisation, GIORMANI also embraces the sustainability mantra. While the local industry peers are promoting more environmentally friendly practices in recent years, such as using the “greener” water-based glue or the non-chemical dyes, or reducing packaging materials, Jane said the company has been implementing these measures for more than 10 years, because they have always been keeping up with the European standards.
“We strive to educate and encourage customers to clean and care for their sofas to enhance its durability and reduce waste and disposals at the source. We also offer a HK$500 extended warranty in the 4th year for the sofa mechanic parts. If the customer does not use the warranty service, our company will give the same amount of value to discount upon his/ her next purchase. The whole purpose is to encourage our customer who keep good condition of a furniture. ”
“As a local SME, we want to do our part for the younger generation and under-privileged, so in addition to promoting green production and consumption, we have also launched a campaign to raise funds for Orbis.”
GIORMANI has been recognised as Consumer Caring Company by GS1 HK for 13 consecutive years since 2011, acknowledging its earnest approach to provide the best products for customers, and collaborate with cross-sector partners and stakeholders to co-create opportunities.
Jane said over the years, GIORMANI have worked with suppliers to progress together. There was a time when a supplier accidentally produced substandard goods and tried to sell them at a big discount, but Jane and Kelvin refused to compromise, and requested supplier to immediately remake the products. Now their suppliers can take on more orders from global high-end brands, exactly because of their international benchmarking quality standard.
“Despite the volatile economy today, Jane and Kelvin believe their pursuit of excellence and customer-centric principle are what brings them here now, and beyond the next quarter of the century. ”
