Natuzzi eyes 17 test galleries in America
By Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today, April 28, 2002
HIGH POINT — Natuzzi rolled out a Natuzzi Gallery concept at the market here, and also said it was shelving a proposal to build a flagship, company-owned store in nearby Greensboro, N.C.
While the gallery concept was introduced to American retailers for the first time, single-store dealers in England and Australia have already been testing the concept.
Natuzzi expects 17 test galleries to open in North America this year, six by the end of the second quarter and the remainder in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the company has backed away from the plan to construct a "working laboratory" retail unit in North Carolina. The store had been scheduled to open before the October market.
"We have refined our focus and will devote our resources toward the support of our existing retailers for the foreseeable future," Pasquale Natuzzi, chairman and chief executive officer of the upholstery producer, said at the market here.
"When it is appropriate, we will consider opening flagship stores in major cities like New York or Los Angeles." Instead of the company-owned store concept, designed to extend the Natuzzi brand image, the company will devote its resources to its existing retailer base and its gallery programs, according to Johne Albanese, executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
At market, Natuzzi showed a retail display system it called "total look living rooms" with various sizes of vignettes and layouts, along with room dividers and point-of-purchase materials.
The company also is poised to launch its first national consumer advertising campaign in 2003, targeting shelter and style books with a budget of $3 million to $5 million, said Albanese.
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