Hong Kong's Kinetic plans to open 300 U.S. stores
By Ray Allegrezza -- Furniture Today, February 4, 2007
Las Vegas — First-time Las Vegas exhibitor Hong Kong Kangsheng Group, which showed here as Kinetic, has more than 1,000 stores in China and Europe and has its sights set on the United States.
The China-based manufacturer of contemporary leather upholstery said it plans to open as many as 300 Kinetic U.S. stores in the next five years.
President Yongkang Liu said the company now has a single Kinetic store in the Houston area and will open a second in the San Francisco area in a few months.
"We've watched the U.S. market for some time and see a continued demand for better contemporary furniture, which is our core competency," he said.
The 10-year-old company, based in Guangzhou, China, is in an industrial complex of some 1.8 million square feet and employs about 2,000 workers. Liu, who describes Kinetic as the dominant retail brand in Asia, said his factory can produce the equivalent of $15 million a month wholesale.
Liu anticipates a blend of freestanding Kinetic stores and Kinetic galleries in existing stores in the United States.
In Asia, Kinetic stores range from 5,000 square feet to upwards of 20,000 square feet, and sell what Liu described as mid- to better-priced furniture — "high-end, quality goods without the high-end pricing."
To support future U.S. business, he said the company is shopping for two distribution centers, one on each coast and each about 100,000 square feet.
"Currently, we get goods to our Texas store in about three months. However, once the distribution centers are in place, we think we will be able to flow products to the stores within a week, "Liu said.
