High-End Mattress Company DeRucci Expands in Canada
/By Megan Harman
As China-based high-end mattress and bedding company DeRucci Beddings Company Ltd. continues to expand its massive global footprint, the company is setting its sights on growth within the Canadian market.
DeRucci, based in China, was founded in 2004. The company has more than 3,000 stores around the world, in markets including Asia, Australia, Europe and North America.
DeRucci specializes in high-end beds and mattresses that are designed to provide a better night’s sleep. The company has invested in ergonomic research and technology in an effort to produce mattresses that are comfortable, supportive and functional, while also contemporary in design.
“The company’s mission is to help people sleep better,” says Mercury Ma, president of DeRucci in Toronto.
Most of DeRucci’s products are manufactured in China, however many of the products are designed in France and Italy, and are made from materials sourced in Europe. The company’s mattresses retail for prices as high as $20,000, however most items range from $1,500 to $5,000, Ma says.
“We have very, very high-end mattresses,” he says. “We target medium to high-end customers, and they are very focused on quality.”
DeRucci opened its first two Canadian stores in Vancouver approximately two years ago. In December, the company opened a third Canadian store in Markham, Ont., in the SmartCentre Markham Woodside plaza.
The new store is approximately 8,300 square feet in size, and boasts a luxury feel, according to Lawrence Mosselson, vice president of leasing and consulting with S&H Realty Corp., which is working with DeRucci on site selection in Ontario.
“It’s definitely higher end,” Mosselson says. “It has a European feel.”
In addition to mattresses and beds, DeRucci carries a variety of other bedroom furniture, as well as certain other home furnishing items, such as sofas and home décor accessories. The company’s main focus, however, is its bedding systems.
“Anything that you would find in a bedroom,” Ma says, “we have it.”
DeRucci is interested in expanding into other cities in the Canadian market. In the near term, however, the company is focused on growing in Greater Toronto and Vancouver, and fostering brand recognition within those markets.
As the company explores opportunities for new showrooms in the Canadian market, it is interested in a wide variety of types of locations, including outdoor shopping plazas, enclosed shopping centres and standalone sites, Mosselson says. The company is focused on locations ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 square feet in size.
“The intent going forward is to open smaller, satellite showrooms,” Mosselson says.
*Photos are via Holman.
Megan Harman is a business reporter based in Toronto. She writes about topics including retail, financial services and technology. Megan covers Toronto’s retail industry through her blog Retail Realm (torontoretail.wordpress.com). Follow her on Twitter at @meganmharman.