XINGHUO Glass CEO Leads Team to UAE for Talks

Jimmy Wang, CEO of XINGHUO Glass, has led a senior team to the United Arab Emirates to meet retail and interior design buyers, as part of the company's push into the Middle East. The trip covered talks with a home furnishing chain and a design house, along with visits to local markets.

Why the UAE

A good deal of Middle East retail buying is decided in the UAE. Its ports, its re-export trade, and the concentration of regional buying offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi mean that a listing with a local chain can reach buyers in neighbouring markets as well.

For XINGHUO Glass, the Gulf is one of the regions where the company has been putting more time, and the range it took on this trip was chosen for it: glass drinkware, tableware, and wine glasses rather than the full catalogue.

Talks With a Retail Chain

The team met a home furnishing chain based in the UAE and presented its glass drinkware, tableware, and wine glasses. The buying side's comments centred on the drinkware: the clear body and the simple, ergonomic bowl shape, which suit a market where a glass is judged as much on how it feels in the hand as on how it looks on a shelf. The two sides discussed bringing the range into retail channels and running joint promotion, and left with a preliminary intention to work together.

Design Talks With a Local Studio

A second meeting was held with a home furnishing and interior design company working in the region. Wang walked its designers through the range, which runs from modern minimal shapes to European classic styles, and the interest landed on crystal glass wineware: the texture and the shape of the bowl, and how the glass reads under restaurant and hotel lighting. The two sides are looking at developing custom pieces together and putting XINGHUO glassware into local interior projects, which is the kind of work the company's custom processing service is set up for.

Dealer Interest and Where This Leads

Between the two meetings, the team visited home furnishing markets and commercial complexes to see what is on local shelves and at what price points. Several local dealers approached the team about acting as agents for the range in the UAE.

"The UAE gives us room to work with," said Jimmy Wang, CEO of XINGHUO Glass. "What we heard from the buyers we met is that the product fits the market. We have the range and the capacity; what we need now is the right partners on the ground."

About XINGHUO Glass

Jiangsu Xinghuo Technology Co., Ltd. (XINGHUO Glass) has been making glassware since 1999 from its base in Nanjing, China. The company works mainly with lead-free crystal glass and borosilicate glass, and covers forming, decoration, and finishing in house.

Its range covers glass drinkware, wine glasses and decanters, and glass tableware, supplied to importers, wholesalers, and retail chains in more than 30 countries. See About XINGHUO Glass for more.