(AFP/ERIC PIERMONT)
Roche Bobois, a high-end furniture brand, announced on Wednesday the purchase of its franchisee in China, a country where it plans to open between 3 and 5 stores per year and which constitutes its third market.
The French family group, founded in 1960, is present in 54 countries and relies on a network of 340 stores, owned and franchised, via Roche Bobois, its high-end international furniture brand, and Cuir Center, positioned in a mid-range segment.
On Wednesday, Roche Bobois announced “that after 20 years in franchising in China”, it had signed “a letter of intent for a majority stake of 51% in the company Shanghai Rock Castle Furniture, owner in China of the franchise of the Roche Bobois brand, which directly operates 3 stores (1 in Beijing and 2 in Shanghai) and manages 23 sub-franchise stores in various medium-sized cities.
In 2023, it achieved a business volume of 23 million euros in the country, according to the group which reports “particularly high profitability”.
“China is our third country in volume, we will have a majority stake in our franchisee, at 51% initially, with the aim of increasing our capital over time. We have opened fifteen stores in the last five years, and “The idea will be to open 3 to 5 stores per year in China,” Guillaume Demulier, chairman of the board of Roche Bobois, told AFP.
He underlines that “there is a very strong appetite in China for the ‘French art of living’, we have a positioning as a luxury brand, the market is very buoyant and the potential is considerable”.
Guillaume Demulier recalls that Roche Bobois “was first built through franchising” and that “progressively the franchisees were bought out. Today, for example, we are 100% owned in the United States, our first market where we makes more than 35% of our sales.
In 2023, the business volume generated by the two brands, including franchisees, amounted to 600 million euros (excluding taxes), including 508 million for the Roche Bobois brand.