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Tag: Homewares

  • Australian homewares brand Anko expands in India with Flipkart

    Australian homewares brand Anko expands in India with Flipkart

    Australian Kmart-owned homewares brand Anko has teamed up with e-commerce giant Flipkart to expand its footprint in India.

    Indian shoppers can now peruse about 400 Anko products across multiple categories on Flipkart, and the company says it plans to increase its range in the near future.

    The Australian retailer announced its debut in India earlier this year and reported strong growth from both metropolitan and tier 2, and 3 cities.

    “This strategic alliance will allow us to reach a wider audience and meet the growing demand for high-quality and affordable homeware products across the country,” said Pulkit Bansal, country head at Anko India.

    “Through Flipkart’s Brand Mall, Anko will have a prominent presence with a dedicated presence across platforms, ensuring easy access for customers. Additionally, Anko products will be listed under Flipkart Plus assured listings, offering customers a guarantee of quality and reliability.”

    Anko is sold through more than 300 stores in Australia and New Zealand, as well as other international markets. The brand focuses on providing advanced shopping experiences with responsibly sourced products.

    Anko is Kmart Australia’s house brand. The Anko name was introduced in 2019 as part of Kmart’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

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  • Oaktree and Alceon acquire Decor and Willow brands

    Oaktree and Alceon acquire Decor and Willow brands

    Investment companies Oaktree Capital Management and Alceon Group have made a move into homewares with their acquisition of Marlin Management Services (Marlin Brands), a wholesaler whose portfolio includes Decor and Willow, among other leading kitchen and home brands.

    Oaktree and Alceon own a number of iconic Australian apparel brands, including Billabong and Quiksilver (Oaktree), and Noni B (Alceon).

    Marlin Brands owns the more than 60-year-old Decor brand, which makes reusable plastic containers, the more than 100-year-old Willow brand, which makes jugs, coolers and rubbish bins, and the Albi brand, which supplies more than 3000 retailers with home and kitchen products, fashion accessories and jewellery.

    Marlin also owns Independence Studios, a giftware and toy brand, and Pacific Optics, which distributes general merchandise such as sunglasses, hats and phone accessories to petrol and convenience stores.

    The acquisition will see Oaktree and Alceon focus on growing Marlin Brands’ online and international sales.

    “We are excited about the next phase of growth under Oaktree and Alceon’s stewardship,” Greg Kerr, chief executive of Marlin Brands, said.

    The companies’ growth strategy entails growing Decor and Willow’s international operations, particularly its penetration into the US market, and further growing the company’s direct-to-consumer sales through online marketplaces. Marlin Brands already has more than 2600 SKUs listed on Amazon.

    “Together our strategy is to accelerate Marlin Brands’ growth via supply chain transformation and cater to an omnichannel approach to ensure our consumers can be consistently delighted by Marlin’s products in Australia and increasingly internationally,” Kerr said.

    In a statement released on Monday, the investment companies highlighted their expertise in optimising group logistics, warehousing and supply chain management, and branded wholesale and direct-to-consumer sales, as key factors that will enable them to grow the newly acquired business.

    Marlin Brands currently serves more than 18,000 retailers throughout Australia and New Zealand, with more than $260 million of annual revenue.

    Coast2Coast Capital, the South African investment company that owns Marlin Brands, put the wholesaler up for sale last September after abandoning plans for an initial public offering.

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  • Homewares Influenced by SPA and Wellness Concepts

    Homewares Influenced by SPA and Wellness Concepts

    The concept of wellness will increasingly be incorporated into houseware and home designs, predicts consumer market analytics firm WGSN. Speaking at the 34th HKTDC Hong Kong Houseware Fair and the 10th HKTDC Hong Kong International Home Textiles and Furnishings Fair, WGSN Mindset trends specialist Charlie Clark looked at the design concepts, colours and macro directions that will define homeware collections for spring/summer 2020.

    She explained how “sensorial wellness” – the concept of wellness embracing living as well as mental and physical health – is increasingly at the forefront of consumers’ minds and will become a theme in upcoming houseware designs.

    According to Clark, there will be a greater emphasis on the way textures and colours are used to affect our mood, and how the arrangements of spaces and products can make us feel energised or calm.

    Clark highlighted four design trends that have emerged out of this wellness theme, with corresponding zones set up at the Houseware Fair so that visitors could experience how these concepts can be applied to product designs.

    The trends include “Primitive Future”, a tendency toward sensorial simplicity in a blend of high-tech and organic lifestyles; “Hyper Room”, underscoring a mysterious and sometimes moody sense of the future; “Playful Plush”, blending culture with global influences; and “Harmony Lab”, emphasising wellness in the relationship between humans and technology.

    The fairs ran from April 20 to 23 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Some 2500 exhibitors from 28 countries and regions were featured at the fairs to showcase the latest houseware and home textiles collections to global buyers. The two four-day fairs welcomed close to 47,000 buyers from 121 countries and regions.