OPPEIN Group, the world’s number one cabinetry manufacturer, on Wednesday officially opened its first store in Zimbabwe at the Sam Levy Village in Borrowdale, Harare, with plans afoot to expand into various major cities across the country.
Operating under the local group Kavod Sati on a franchise basis, the customised home décor shop products maker’s Borrowdale branch is the Chinese-headquartered firm’s first in southern Africa. Oppein, founded by Chinese billionaire Yao Liangsong, has a presence in 188 countries and over 7 200 franchise showrooms.
With a huge presence around the world, Oppein designs and manufactures high-quality kitchens, wardrobes, bespoke home furniture, bathroom products, interior doors, aluminum windows, doors, and home furnishing, capable of offering one-stop home décor products and solutions. Last year, its sales of kitchen cabinet sets reached 830 000, ranking number 1 in the global kitchen industry in the world.
Oppein Zimbabwe representative Mr Justin Machibaya said during the launch event they decided to open a shop in Zimbabwe to complement the construction of high-end properties that have been on the growth trajectory in the country lately. He said Oppein’s ingress into the local market was also meant to fill in the gap by supplying opulent furniture, which was still limited in the local market.
“What we are trying to bring is quality furniture that is affordable and our target market is the entirety of people that understand the effect and impact of good living, mainly young professionals, middle income and corporate executives,” said Mr Machibaya.
The company is now focusing on setting up more stores in Zimbabwe’s major cities with merchandise supply (with a lead time of at least two months), imported from China. In the medium to long term, Oppein Zimbabwe intends to start producing some of the goods locally “if the order book grows to suitable levels” , said Mr Machibaya.
Founded in China in 1994, Oppein is the largest bath and kitchen manufacturing company in the world. In 2021, the company had a turnover of US$3,14 billion coming from the production and sale of approximately six million products worldwide.
The total market value of Oppein Group exceeded US$15, 3 billion by March 2021. In 2021, Oppein’s turnover reached US$3,14 billion, making its 28th consecutive year of growth.
In overseas markets, what distinguishes Oppein from its competitors is the Italian designs, European quality, one-stop whole-house products and solutions and reliable local services.
According to Fortune Business Insights, the global furniture market was worth US$475,4 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach about US$720, 2 billion by 2028.
Oppein has five manufacturing plants in Guangzhou, Qingyuan, Tianjin, Wuxi, Chengdu with a total area of over 2,3 million square metres. The Kavod Sati group has been operating in the country for more than a decade with interests in Liquefied Petroleum Gas and property development. – Herald
