[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] # Office worker A (33, female), who is about to get married, recently visited a furniture store in Gangnam and had a new experience. She was amazed to see chairs priced at 10 million KRW, dining tables at 30 million KRW, and beds exceeding 100 million KRW. She was satisfied with the fact that she had browsed furniture that was not easy to choose and reluctantly turned away.
Do people who pursue an extraordinary life that rejects ordinariness also choose different furniture? What kind of products do they use for their master bedroom beds, living room sofas, and kitchen furniture? The place that satisfies their tastes is the "premium brand" operated by the furniture industry.
The number one furniture company Hanssem's premium brands are "Nexus" and "Kitchenbach." A Hanssem official introduced, "Nexus is a brand for customers pursuing a top 1% high-end luxury lifestyle."
Nexus's lineup is splendid. It sells a total of 16 luxury imported brands including Italian furniture Molteni & C and Dada, world-renowned lighting brand Fontana Arte, Schramm (beds and mattresses), Gessi (bathrooms), Duravit (bathrooms), Sahco (fabrics), and Kettal (outdoor furniture).
The showroom is staffed with interior and design expert consulting teams with rich experience, proposing space styling that fits the customer's high-end lifestyle. From furniture styling such as sofas and tables to remodeling the entire house, it provides a total one-stop solution imbued with the highest-class sensibility.
Kitchenbach is named to signify that just as the greatness and depth of the music master Bach (J.S. Bach) cannot be surpassed by anyone, no ordinary kitchen furniture can surpass the "world's best" quality standards.
Kitchenbach is a premium kitchen furniture brand that condenses about 50 years of space know-how accumulated by Hanssem. It reflects traditional dancheong patterns and lacquer colors in a modern reinterpretation on the furniture, incorporates Joseon Dynasty white porcelain designs, and uses new materials developed with nanotechnology by the Italian furniture material company Arpa Industriale, representing the best quality and latest technology.
Hyundai Livart has been exclusively selling products of the American premium home furnishing company Williams-Sonoma in Korea since 2017. It operates online and offline stores for four brands: Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, and West Elm.
Williams-Sonoma focuses on premium kitchenware and kitchen appliances, Pottery Barn Kids specializes in furniture and accessories for infants and children, with some items like school bags being popular "direct purchase items" among domestic consumers. West Elm is a New York-style home furnishing brand popular among young customers in the U.S. for its trendy furniture and lifestyle accessories.
Ace Bed, the number one in the bed industry, operates the premium mattress brand "Ace Heritz." It is a brand born by gathering only the pinnacle technologies and materials that Ace Bed possesses, from natural materials to advanced technology. For the highest-grade premium mattress, it applies 100% merino wool fabric, natural wool, horsehair, and organic cotton fabric.
About 2.5 to 3 kg of wool can be harvested from one sheep per year, but for the highest grade Ace Heritz Black, 9.4 sheep worth (25.34 kg) of wool is used for a K size mattress, showing tremendous dedication. Additionally, it applies the "Hybrid Z Spring," patented in 15 countries worldwide, which improves sagging, noise, gaps, shaking, and shifting to realize optimal sleep.
Other furniture companies such as Persys Group with "Alloso," Enex with "Kitchen Palette," and Emons Furniture with "Erdians" also operate premium brands. However, the sales scale of these premium brands is not noteworthy.
Hanssem Nexus recorded sales of 118.4 billion KRW last year. Even combined, Nexus and Kitchenbach account for about 3% of Hanssem's total sales. In the market, the share of premium brands in the entire furniture industry is less than 5%. This means it is not a sector attracting much attention in the market. Nevertheless, furniture companies operate premium brands to secure diverse customer bases and to learn advanced technologies from famous overseas companies.
Kim Hong-kwang, head of Hanssem's Living Environment Technology Research Institute, said, "Operating premium brands is absolutely necessary," adding, "We need to satisfy various customer groups, and there must be high-priced products to compare prices in a market formed mostly of mid- to low-priced products." Regarding the premium brand market being mainly composed of imported brands, he explained, "It greatly helps in researching and developing the design, materials, and manufacturing methods of famous overseas products," and added, "It is a good opportunity to satisfy specific customer groups, enhance product differentiation, and benchmark technology."
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