Huge Shanghai complex targets trade, retail
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, October 17, 2006
Shanghai, China — The man behind what may become one of the largest furniture markets in the world plans to build a trade center that taps into China's strengths in furniture manufacturing and the country's ever-growing consumer market.
"We do not just want to sell our products to the world," said Zou Wenlong, president of the Shanghai-based Jisheng Wellborn Furniture Group, owner of nine retail furniture malls in China. "We want to bring the world's best products to Shanghai."
In May, Zou began construction of the Global Housing & Furnishings Purchasing Center, a $380 million project that by 2010 proposes to have more than 8 million square feet of showrooms, offices, hotel space and entertainment and dining facilities.
The showrooms would be open to the furniture trade during an annual furniture show.
During the rest of the year, they would be open to consumers on a retail basis. Company marketing materials say the goal is to create a one-stop furniture shopping experience that draws more than 90 million consumers who live within three hours of the complex.
Zou announced the project in July but declined to reveal specifics. During the Shanghai International Furniture Expo in September, he met with Furniture/Today officials in his Shanghai office and discussed the project in greater detail.
According to Zou, the 195-acre project will be built in three phases. The first phase, to be completed by September 2007, would have about 2 million square feet of permanent showroom space for 200 high-end exhibitors.
Zou said 80% of those exhibitors have committed to showing there already, although he did not disclose any names. He expects the space to be nearly 100% leased by the Shanghai show's opening day next September.
The first phase includes an 80,000-square-foot administrative office for Zou's company, Jisheng Wellborn, and a 200-room hotel.
The second phase, to be completed by September 2008, will have 1 million square feet of permanent exhibit space and another 1 million square feet of temporary space. It also will have another 50,000 square feet of space for a furniture museum and furniture design and training center.
The third phase, to be completed by September 2009, will add another 3 million square feet of showroom space, bringing the total to about 7.5 million square feet, not including the administrative offices and the hotel. The breakdown on permanent and temporary exhibit space in the third phase will depend on leasing activity in the first two.
However, Zou did say the mix in the third phase likely will include accessories as well as indoor residential furniture.
A separate logistics center with more than 2 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space will be about two miles from the site. It aims to provide logistics services to more than 600 Chinese and international furniture companies.
The project is significant because of its size. By itself, it would just be about 4 million square feet smaller than High Point, which has about 12 million square feet of showrooms.
If held in conjunction with the Shanghai International Furniture Expo, the combined shows could boast more than 10 million square feet of showroom space alone. The current Shanghai show has about 2.3 million square feet of temporary space and will likely grow by 2010.
Zou's plans regarding future cooperation with the Shanghai show are vague. He said a furniture show at his global furniture center will be held in conjunction with the Shanghai show, which runs from Sept. 12–15, 2007.
But beyond that, it was unclear to what extent they will cooperate.
A big challenge is the distance between the two venues. Zou's project is in the Qingpu District of ZhaoXiang. Given traffic conditions, that's almost an hour's drive from the Shanghai New International Expo Center, the main venue of the current Shanghai show.
But even on its own, the project is unique in scope and focus. As a market venue, it attempts to mirror the high-end aspect of the High Point show and the design elements of Milan. The difference is that it will be open the rest of the year as a retail center for Chinese consumers.
Architectural renderings show it as a fully landscaped shopping center with modern buildings and walkways. The entire project also would be surrounded by a 20-meter-wide waterway. As many as 100 showrooms of internationally known companies, branded like retail stores, would be constructed along a wider waterway that divides the first and second phase. Hundreds of other domestic manufacturers would also be open to consumers.
Along with the furniture stores, the site would have restaurants and entertainment.
Zou said companies would be selected based on the quality and type of products they offer. They also will be chosen based on their ability to serve different international markets, including the United States, Europe and the Middle East.
Zou said his company will try to run the furniture trade show. However, he is open to seeking help from professional exhibition companies.
While the project is ambitious in scope, Zou said the timing is right, especially in light of proposed infrastructure improvements in Shanghai. That includes a new airport and a rail system that will transport visitors directly from the airport to the center year-round. He also noted the recent growth of China's furniture exports and its booming consumer population.
High Point officials say they are impressed with the project, although they can't say what effect it might have on the world's largest furniture market.
"If he is at least remotely successful it will be a can't-miss deal," said Tom Lindh, president and CEO of the International Home Furnishings Center in High Point. "The prospects of what he is planning are pretty phenomenal. He has some great ambition about what he wants to accomplish with that show."
However, Lindh also said that the hotels planned for the area will have to be upscale in order to attract U.S. buyers.
Brian Casey, president of the High Point Market Authority, met with Zou during the Shanghai show and also was impressed with him and his plans.
"He's definitely an entrepreneur and sees things in a big way," said Casey. "Nonetheless, I think time will present the results of what he is looking to accomplish. I am very impressed with what he has accomplished thus far. I did not see the site, but met with Mr. Wenlong and found his business acumen to be impressive."
Casey said he plans to stay in touch with Zou and look for ways the two markets can collaborate or cooperate in the future. "How that'll work out, I don't know," he said. "But I'd rather look at it that way than put walls up, because that never works."
-
Furniture Center Building Begins in Dongguan
Jan 11, 2011 -
Mr. Zou thinks big about planned Shanghai market
Nov 26, 2006 -
Dalian show plans expansion
Jun 24, 2007
Featured Company
-
Wright Labels
Bill and Tom Wright founded Wright of Thomasville in 1961 on the idea that printing was a creative medium and the belief that "a promise made is a promise kept." The Wright brothers focused their attention on providing exceptional printing for the... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
