CEBU — Patrons and enthusiasts of the works of Kenneth Cobonpue, globally acclaimed designer and native of the province of Cebu, are soon to see the launch of his new showroom in Grand Hyatt Residences in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig in November.
In an exclusive interview with BusinessWorld, Stephanie Arambulo de la Cruz, the art director for Kenneth Cobonpue, shared her excitement about the upcoming launch. “We’re opening, we’re still in the works. We’re targeted to open by the end of November but this is in Grand Hyatt, so it’s in BGC,” she said.
The new showroom will replace the first one in Greenbelt in Makati which for 10 years housed the iconic furniture that made Mr. Cobonpue a household name.
“We’ve closed that. We moved. That showroom in Makati was moved to BGC,” Ms. De la Cruz said, who also serves as Mr. Cobonpue’s head of marketing and communications.
Media guests toured Mr. Cobonpue’s showroom and factory located in his hometown Cebu City. The guests were greeted with the elegant bloom easy armchair — neatly folded to look like large petals, with the iconic name of the designer at the backdrop.
“We’d like to expand and the space in Makati is quite small already because we have more collections now. BGC is also one place where we can [expand], it’s a new place. We would also like to be there in a bigger place also,” Ms. De la Cruz said.
She also said that although people in Cebu buy the products, Manila has a more diverse market and their spending behavior is more flexible, noting that retail is stronger in Manila.
When asked if they are eyeing expanding to another location in the country, Ms. De la Cruz said they have no plans yet as they are managing international showrooms as well.
“I’m not sure if we are yet. Because currently, we do have international showrooms as well. We do have a showroom in New York. We also have a showroom in Germany,” she said, also mentioning its showroom in Portugal and The Colosseum in India.
The Bloom chair and the Dragnet lounge chair are among the sought-after collections that appeal to its audience.
When asked how the brand was affected during the pandemic, she said they were not as buyers then had the time to check their products online.
“It actually did us good that we’re home,” she said. “In that context, we were really not affected because we still had orders, we were still in operation.”
The company has a workforce of about 300 in the area.
Now, the brand’s immediate target is to launch its Manila showroom and be visible in international shows parading Filipino-made designs.
The renowned Filipino designer and furniture maker recently unveiled the “Linya” art series in the newly opened SM City J Mall in Mandaue City, Cebu. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante