Business

Saturday June 21, 2008

Rozel constantly seeks new avenues for designs

SUCCESSFUL MALAYSIAN BRANDS
By RACHAEL KAM


Beginning with a single sofa range, the company now offers a wide range of furniture and aims to be a household brand.

GONE are the days when people seeking to furnish their homes and offices would just head to the nearest furniture shop and pick up functional pieces with little regard for style or aesthetic value.

Consumers today are more demanding and often shop extensively before making a decision on the pieces they want.

Gan Tai Hwa with one of the company’s contemporary design sofa sets.

Rozel Corp Sdn Bhd is a company that has always aspired to develop comfortable, quality and trendy design furniture to meet the needs of the people.

Founder and managing director Gan Tai Hwa said he had foreseen this trend 18 years ago, and that was why he ventured into the business.

To him, best quality and contemporary furniture are the focus of the company. He believes that the products represents the brand that he wants to sell in the marketplace.

The low-profile Gan said there were many steps to building a strong brand.

“We must have a clear direction to move forward. Branding is about building the image and quality products that you will present to your customers, and we must keep updated on the latest market trend.

Rozel furniture showroom located at Taman Tun Dr Ismail in Petaling Jaya.

“People will buy the products when they trust the brand,” he told StarBiz in an interview.

“We will continue to focus on research and development (R&D) to deliver good quality furniture that meets our customers' taste, preferences and lifestyle at a reasonable price.”

The Rozel brand, which started with just a single range of sofas, today has grown to a wide range of furniture, including sets for the living hall, bedroom, dining room and corporate office.

In 2005, Rozel Corp launched Ofitalia mainly to cater to the corporate office market.

The company's R&D team consists of four experts in design and marketing. Gan said the team was focusing on the design pattern and would continue taking part in furniture exhibitions for more exposure.

Recently, Rozel Corp raised its annual R&D investment to more than RM300,000 compared with about RM250,000 previously.

The company has a factory in Kuala Lumpur and another in China. Gan said it had also appointed two original equipment manufacturer factories in the Klang Valley.

Currently, Rozel products are distributed through its 14 retail outlets in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Seremban, Malacca, Johor Baru, Butterworth and Kuching.

All its outlets have an average built-up area of over 10,000 sq ft while its first and biggest store – located in Old Klang Road – is 35,000 sq ft.

Rozel's trendy design dining set. Its products are locally made with thick and good quality leather to cater for the middle to upper market.

Under its plan, Rozel Corp expects to open one or two outlets every year, for two to three years, throughout the country. Gan said it was targeting “high household income” areas.

“We aim to make Rozel a leading household brand that people will remember.

“However, quality always comes before the brand. If products have no quality, there's no point in talking about branding,” he noted.

Since Gan started the business in 1990, Rozel's branding success has always been its ability to continuously search for new avenues for its designs.

“We have been very consistent in our product quality. We use high-grade materials like thick leather (for sofa).”

Gan said one could feel the difference in quality when sitting on a Rozel leather sofa.

For instance, Rozel Gold range of sofa for the high-end market is made from top-quality Aniline leather. Its Rozel Lifestyle range is more suitable for the mid-range market, with prices ranging from RM4,000 to RM8,000.

“The younger crowd seems to love the contemporary design furniture while urbanites prefer comfortable and quality pieces like our Bovine leather series, and mature businessmen like the highest quality leather like the Aniline series,” he added.

Rozel Corp is also generous when refurbishing its showroom and will continue with this trend in future.

“Branding is not just about the quality products that we are selling but also about the environment in our showroom, our customers and after-sales service,” Gan said.

Rozel furniture is targeted at the mid- to high-end local market.

Its products, with Italian design, have also attracted quite a number of foreign buyers.

Gan said the company's tagline – For How You Live – reflected the quality, comfort and its contemporary and Western lifestyle designs that would satisfy any customer's demand.

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story
  • Bookmark and Share