Ambiente eyes 10 franchised stores this year
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, March 10, 2002
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Ambiente Collection, a retailer here, has launched an effort to franchise its upscale European contemporary furniture, with plans to open 10 stores by the end of the year.
Peter Posch, partner and co-owner with Andre Haugaard, said the first franchise was sold to Kang Lee, who will open a 6,400-square-foot store on M Street in Washington in May.
Other markets the company is targeting include Philadelphia, St. Louis, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Charlotte, N.C., and unidentified Florida markets.
The 20,000-square-foot Ambiente store, part of a furniture retail row on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh, generated sales of about $5 million last year through its assortment of European, primarily German, goods from sources such as Rolf Benz, Cor, Erpo/Dreipunkt and Designo, Posch said.
Through a sister company, Import Development Group, the partners also distribute containers and less-than-container loads of German product to retailers across the country, Posch said.
Ambiente plans to offer its contemporary concept, although on a smaller scale, through its franchised stores.
"The stores have to be miniature images of what we do, which is a relatively stark, Teutonic contemporary," Posch said. "Our signs and advertising will be virtually identical. We'll go after consumers with the same products, lighting, carpeting — everything."
He called Ambiente's offering "an alternative to the same-old, same-old Italian and American merchandise."
And while Posch said the stores are legally franchises, he considers them more like partnerships. Ambiente is not taking a percentage of sales as royalty. Instead, franchisees will pay about $50,000 for a new store package, which includes assistance in hiring, training, site selection, bookkeeping, administration and computer system setup. Retailers converting existing stores would pay $20,000, he said.
Through its sister IDG company and Raleigh distribution center, Posch said Ambiente has the systems needed to support the franchise network.
"No (franchisee) should do less than $3 million (in annual sales) with our program," he said. When the company has 10 stores up and running, Posch projected chainwide sales of about $35 million.
| Andre Haugaard, left, and Peter Posch, co-owners of The Ambiente Collection in Raleigh, N.C., plan to franchise their primarily German contemporary retail concept with at least 10 stores this year. |
| A Dreipunkt sofa, retailing at about $1,900, an Erpo recliner and ottoman and a Ronald Schmitt granite and glass coffee table are examples of Ambiente's "stark, Teutonic" contemporary style. |
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