GUANZHOU, China —Harmontex, the contract specialist wholesaler which offers western lines, has just launched an effort for the first time in residential fabrics according to Samuel Hui, managing director of this Sankon China division. 

Sankon also offers carpet, lighting and automatic window lines to the contract market. It is concentrating its residential efforts in the largest cities in China, namely, branches in Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Chengdu. Samuel Hui

“We are a major distributor and agency for many soft lines in China and Hong Kong with a focus on contract. We have more than 20 years’ experience in this field but now we are turning part of our efforts towards residential lines,” he said. “This is a changing market and it is going faster all of the time. We have 150 lines of contract fabrics, all high end imports. We specialize in supplying high end five star hotels and villa projects.”

By supplying books to 500 retailers, Hui expects to build the residential business. “We are looking for suitable imported Western lines to sell the richest customers in China.” He pointed out that the Chinese middle class is poor in comparison to the European middle class so the focus has to be on the richest consumers in China.   F&FI