Editor's Note
This editor’s note highlights the key facts and market implications behind “Claire Tharin Rides the Wave of Luxury Tiles”, with emphasis on sourcing, product fit, fabrication, logistics, or buyer impact.
Laurie JOANOU
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
DR – Claire Tharin is conquering new markets to sustain her tile trading business.
The brand Claire Carrelage, based in Montrond-les-Bains, is already well-known. Specializing in the sale of tiles and sanitary ware for private clients, the company has been targeting the high-end market for several years. Luxury hotels, spa complexes… This strategic choice was made about ten years ago "to stabilize turnover in the face of competition," says manager Claire Tharin. This necessity enabled the company to generate a turnover of €2.5M in 2018 in a highly competitive market, "and to keep our ten employees," she adds.
So, the business leader decided to impose her "independent" stamp against a horde of large groups. With her pilgrim's staff, Claire Tharin set out "to visit architects to offer them high-end tiles that I have custom-made in Italy," confides the manager, who has just returned from Paris where she received an order for "blue mirror tiles," a non-existent product that will require special production.
It is through orders for luxury hotels across France that Claire Carrelage stands out. To this end, the company does not hesitate to highlight the awards it has received. Claire Carrelage won a Gold Mercury award a few years ago, presented by the Minister of Commerce, and also received the International Ceramics Prize in Italy in 2014 in the category of best French trade, as well as the Commerce Challenge organized by the CCI in 2003 and 2013. A "national distinction that rewards and honors the best merchants and commercial unions in France." These titles matter to promote the identity and luxury of the French style.
Conquering a New Market
With these distinctions in her pocket and her address book in hand, the audacious Claire Tharin decided to conquer another market. In 2018, she created a brand aimed at a very high-end clientele. Claire Luxury targets yacht and superyacht manufacturers.
“As independents, we are like dinosaurs in our tile trading activity. Moving towards a niche market allows us to stabilize our turnover. For now, Claire Luxury represents nothing. But the goal is to diversify.”
For now, Claire Tharin faces the difficulties of establishing herself in an international market, in the niche of yacht outfitting which she considers promising. To this end, she has just hired an employee to assist her with international prospecting. However, she is annoyed:
“I did not receive the economic export assistance from the Saint-Etienne Lyon CCI. I applied for an interest-free loan of €30,000 for travel and purchasing contact lists, but I did not get it, on the grounds that the tiles I sell are not manufactured in France. My products are not ‘cocorico’ (patriotic) enough. But there are no manufacturers in France, apart from a few in the Southeast who make terracotta.”
And it is not terracotta that interests the trader, but an innovative, thin ceramic. Lightweight 3.5 mm slabs manufactured in Italy inspired her:
“I decided to sell something that didn’t exist: a new ceramic, inlaid with precious stones that I have manufactured and set in Italy.”
Source: Read the original article | Published: May 01, 2019