Kuka Home's Flagship Store Sets Foot in India, Fast-tracking Its Global Expansion Strategy

Kuka Home, the Chinese furniture powerhouse, has unveiled its flagship store in India, providing Indian consumers with an all-inclusive home furnishing destination.

Established in collaboration with a seasoned local distributor, this marks Kuka Home's maiden foray with its whole home living store model outside its domestic market. Departing from its traditional approach of maintaining uniformity in products, branding, and store formats across borders, this initiative signifies a strategic shift from globalizing products to establishing a global brand presence.

owever, this strategic move by Kuka Home bucks the current trend. Previously, Indian authorities detained three senior employees of Vivo's Indian subsidiary on financial crime charges. Despite an Indian court's subsequent release order, the Vivo India incident has once again impacted India's commercial reputation. Over recent years, India has banned numerous Chinese applications citing national security concerns, extensively scrutinized Chinese corporations, and imposed penalties on smartphone brands such as Vivo and Xiaomi for their operations in India.

Amidst the turbulence affecting Chinese enterprises and capital outflows, Kuka Home has chosen to press forward. Since its inception in 1982, the company has focused on research, development, design, production, and sales of customized home furnishing solutions for dining rooms, bedrooms, and entire households. Kuka Home is committed to offering globally comfortable, secure, eco-friendly, and user-centric home products. The company went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in October 2016 with the stock code 603816.

As a prominent player in China's soft furniture domain, Kuka Home operates over 6,000 retail outlets domestically and brand stores across various regions including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Singapore, Brunei, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt, reaching business in over 120 countries and regions worldwide.

Kuka Home entered international furniture exhibitions in 2000 and expanded its global footprint. In 2008, the company made its debut at the Las Vegas International Furniture Exhibition, gaining traction both at home and abroad. In 2010, Kuka Home inaugurated its inaugural self-owned brand store in the Netherlands.

In 2018, the company established a joint venture with Italy's upscale furniture brand Natuzzi. It also acquired Germany's top furniture brand Rolf Benz, American furniture brand 'Kuan Di,' and mattress brand Delandis for export. Additionally, they established their first self-built production base in Vietnam for overseas operations. In 2019, the company set up a factory in Malaysia and launched the Milan Design Research Center overseas. Finally, in 2022, the Mexico Interpuerto manufacturing base was initiated. By 2027, production values at the Vietnam and Mexico plants are estimated to reach USD 500 million and USD 450 million, respectively.

Presently, Kuka Home operates ten major manufacturing hubs globally, including three overseas bases in Mexico, Vietnam, and Germany, catering to North American, Southeast Asian, and European markets, enhancing overall supply chain efficiency.

Driven by China's dual circulation economic strategy, expanding into international markets has become pivotal for the growth of leading home furnishing enterprises. Several such enterprises, including Kuka Home, are actively exploring transformations and continuously enhancing their 'going global' strategies by venturing into high-end markets.

Looking ahead, Kuka Home will further fortify its global presence through its 'going global' strategy, with a focus on brand strength, product quality, and design excellence. The company will champion its whole home living store model, hastening its overseas expansion.