Editor's Note
This editor’s note highlights the key facts and market implications behind “Distribution: Porcelanosa Opens New Stores in We”, with emphasis on sourcing, product fit, fabrication, logistics, or buyer impact.
Porcelanosa is expected to open franchised stores in Saint-Malo and Saint-Brieuc during 2019, each creating 4 to 7 jobs. The Spanish ceramic tile manufacturer has been in talks with "associates" – franchisees capable of investing between €300,000 and €600,000 to finance boutique/showrooms meeting the brand's standards, with floor areas ranging from 350 to 600 m². As the concept is now well-established in Europe, the Spanish family-owned group no longer intends to open company-owned stores on this continent. Other cities in Western France are being considered, including Les Sables-d'Olonne, Quimper, and Deauville.
We don’t have a conquest objective. Openings are primarily about connections.
emphasizes Jean-Pierre Pondard, Regional Director for the West.
Orvault, First Export Store
Both a manufacturer and distributor, Porcelanosa deploys a similar strategy to the Vendée-based furniture manufacturer Gautier. The Spanish family group maintains its industrial base in Spain, in the Villarreal region where it was founded in 1973. It operates 8 factories there. A 9th factory dedicated to K-life, a new façade material, is in the planning stages. Orvault (northwest of Nantes) was the distributor's first location outside its home borders. The store, opened in 1988, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Renovated in 2007, it is currently the largest in France at 1,800 m², behind Lyon (2,200 m²). This full-scale laboratory served as the model for the group's expansion. To mark the occasion, the group is launching, for the 30th anniversary of its first export store, a new tile line called "Nantes" which will be distributed worldwide.
12 Stores and 134 Employees in the West
Present in 150 countries via resellers and a network of 961 points of sale, Porcelanosa has subsidiaries and company-owned stores in about ten countries. In total, the Spanish manufacturer employs 4,700 people with a turnover of €889 million. With 40 stores, including 10 "associates," and 400 employees, France accounts for 10% of its business with a turnover of €98 million, of which €29 million is from the Western region. The group employs 134 people there, including 30 at the logistics platform in Saint-Herblain which supplies the 12 stores in the Western network (Brittany, Pays de la Loire, Lower Normandy, and Centre).
Façade Innovation
The Spanish group produces over 20,000 items for bathroom fittings, façades, and furniture. Its markets include: interior design for private individuals, hotels and restaurants, floor coverings and shop fittings, and façade cladding for collective housing and the tertiary sector. Among its notable achievements in the West: The Fuji building in Rennes, completed three months ago. The façade was covered with K-life, self-cleaning resin panels using photocatalysis, antibacterial and capable of purifying the air by absorbing carbon, an in-house innovation resulting from the group's research.
Source: Read the original article | Published: September 21, 2018