Lazzoni Opens SoHo Store

June 25, 2014  by in Designer Weekly   

The 5,700-square-foot showroom offers a collection of furniture designed for apartment or loft living.

Founded in Istanbul in the 1950s, the company has expanded in the U.S. Efe Kababulut, founder and CEO of Lazzoni US, the company's American division, is working to build the brand with consumers.

Lazzoni, with 20 retail stores worldwide, has consultants who assess homes and map a unique furnishing plan that clients can view and modify via computer. Technology plays an integral part in the collection, as many pieces have built-in TVs, cameras, lighting, and are hard-wired into the pieces.

"I want to position Lazzoni where no other furniture brand has been," Kababulut said. "I'd like to associate my brand with style in a very unique and different way."

Kababulut plans to expand in metropolitan cities in the U.S., including Miami, Chicago, Boston and Washington, D.C., through franchising opportunities. The SoHo store is Lazzoni's third in the New York area, joining locations in Chelsea and Paramus, N.J., and positioning the company to take advantage of furniture sales that rose to a three-month high in the U.S. in May.

"Our niche is high-quality furniture with classically elegant, simple European lines," Kababulut said. "We manufacture the products that we sell, so we can provide the highest quality, and because we build them in Turkey, we can do so at a lower cost than our competitors."