Porcelanosa, forging ahead for the last 40 years

In the spotlight
by Paola Giacomini
Porcelanosa, forging ahead
for the last 40 years
Héctor Colonques
From 25 to 29 January, the Porcelanosa
Group’s
headquarters in Vila-Real
hosted the 23rd International Exhibition of Global Architecture, the annual appointment at which
the renowned Spanish
group kicks off the new
year and unveils new
products from its brands
Porcelanosa, Venis, Gamadecor,
Systempool,
L’Antic Colonial, Noken,
Butech and Urbatek.
In perfect “Porcelanosa
style”, nothing was left
to chance: from the impressive logistic organisation that over the course
of a week welcomed
more than 12,000 guests
from all over the world
to the 13,000 completely renovated square metres of exhibition space
equipped with the most
innovative multimedia in-
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stallations. The event offered an almost sensorial
journey through the widest range of finishings for
home and building, from
ceramic, stone and wood
floors and walls to bathroom furnishings and
wellness equipment, taps
and kitchen furniture, Krion® surfaces for interiors
and exterior façades.
A touch of glamour was
provided by Isabel Preysler, the face of Porcelanosa for the last 35 years,
accompanied by Nobel Prize winning author
Mario Vargas Llosa and
other illustrious guests
such as Michael Smith,
the interior designer of
Hollywood celebrities.
At the event we had
the opportunity to meet
once again company
chairman Héctor Colonques, a highly charismatic figure renowned for the
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In the spotlight
The new vertival warehouse
passion with which he constantly explores new business
opportunities.
Showroom Porcelanosa. Vilareal
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Tile International: Mr Colonques, Porcelanosa began
2016 with a new milestone in
terms of turnover.
Héctor Colonques: That’s
right, in 2015 we marked up
12% growth in consolidated
group sales to more than 800
million euros. All product segments we operate in have
grown. Demand has been
particularly high in some markets such as the United States,
Mexico, the UK, France, Italy,
Nigeria, South Africa and India. But the same applies to
our domestic market. In Spain
sales rose by 10%, compared
to 5% the previous year. This
result rewards the efforts we
have made in recent years
and our commitment to maintaining our presence in Spain
so as to build customer loyalty. Today we are seeing grow-
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In the spotlight
ing demand in cities such as
Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. To a large extent this is still
concentrated in the remodelling segments, but we are
gradually seeing new building
projects start up again.
Tile International: The Porcelanosa policy has always
been to control distribution by
opening brand showrooms,
of which there are now more
than 400 all over the world.
What importance has this
massive presence had for the
Group’s growth?
H. Colonques: It’s been very
important. Our distribution
business now makes up 50%
of global turnover, equivalent to around 400 million euros. It has been described as
a “unique business model”
that – according to a study
by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Financial Times – has
helped to make us “one of
the most prestigious ceramic companies worldwide”. Perhaps both definitions are correct, what is certain is that our
presence in the distribution
market dates back to 1973
when we were founded. When
José Soriano Ramos and I began producing tiles with a focus on design and product
image, we realised that building materials distributors at
the time were not properly
equipped to start selling these
new ceramic products. Fortunately, we had plenty of experience in trade as well as ceramic tile production, so it was
fairly natural for us to decide
to look after that side of the
business by opening our first
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showrooms. This commercial
approach gradually prompted us to expand our range to
meet the demands of specialist distribution and a market in
search of products catering
for the entire home.
Tile International: In this respect too Porcelanosa is almost unique in the ceramic
sector. Why do you think your
model hasn’t been copied?
H. Colonques: I believe it’s because most entrepreneurs in
the tile sector are 100% “ceramists”. I have many friends
amongst the industrialists in
this sector and one day one
of them, visiting our installations here in Vila-Real, said to
me smiling that our group resembled a Meccano model! It
certainly took courage at the
beginning to enter unknown
territory such as kitchen and
bathroom furnishings, but we
succeeded and the Gamadecor brand is now a market
leader in the kitchen segment
in Spain. Likewise, when we decided to introduce stone and
wood floor and wall coverings
into our range, people asked
us whether we were worried
about competing with our ceramic tile production. But we
had no doubts: if we hadn’t
occupied that space ourselves, someone else would
have done it!
In this spirit we have continued
to reinvest everything to support our project. And above
all we are fortunate to have
thousands of people working
for our 8 companies who have
embraced this philosophy.
Tile International: What share
of Porcelanosa Group’s turnover is currently made up of ceramic tiles?
H. Colonques: In 2015 tiles accounted for 60% of turnover,
but as I said all divisions are
growing and this share may
well drop to around 40% within 4 years.
Tile International: You recently announced a 15 million
euro investment programme
to modernise the Porcelanosa
and Venis production facilities
in 2016-2017. What will this involve exactly?
H. Colonques: Although our
lines are already extremely advanced in terms of technology, we are aware that you
have to keep moving – even if
this means replacing equipment before it has entirely
paid for itself. The production
process is developing constantly thanks to the efforts
of the plant and machinery
manufacturers, an extremely dynamic sector that has introduced real technological
innovations over the last 15
years. Personally, I find these
developments really exciting.
Just think for example of the
recent production of large-format tiles and panels…
Tile International: On the subject of production, Porcelanosa Group is undoubtedly a
distribution multinational, but
you’ve never thought of internationalising your manufacturing activities in key markets.
Why is this?
H. Colonques: Our Porcelanosa and Venis factories turn
out approximately 40 million
square metres of tiles each
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In the spotlight
Isabel Preysler and Mario Vargas Llosa
at the opening of Porcelanosa Store in New York (picture on left)
year. These are sold on the
market at a fairly high price,
justified by the set of values
associated with our brand:
quality, research, design and
image, right down to the packaging. In this context, maritime
transport doesn’t have a particularly significant impact on
the final cost. Think for example of the United States, which
is certainly our largest market
together with Europe (the two
areas together account for
60% of our sales): road transport from Tennessee to New
York would cost more than
sea transport from Spain. Instead we have chosen to control the market through distribution. We currently have 500
employees working in Porcelanosa showrooms and in distribution centres in the United
States, as well as a further 500
in the UK.
Tile International: You have
announced the allocation of
a further 15 million euros to expand your network of stores.
Which areas will you be expanding in?
H. Colonques: We will be
opening new outlets in the
United States where we already have 30 stores, mainly
concentrated on the East and
West Coast, including 9 in New
Jersey. After the September
opening of what has inevitably become our flagship store,
namely the showroom on
Fifth Avenue in New York, we
will continue to concentrate
on metropolitan areas with
around 5 million inhabitants.
Houston, Texas is one example
and will be followed by Tampa,
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Florida and cities in other US
states. Forthcoming openings
are also planned in Toronto
(Canada), Mexico and Chile.
In the UK we will be opening two showrooms in Cambridge and Reading, while in
China we are completing new
stores which will join the one in
Shanghai, opened three years
ago.
Tile International: Will Africa
play a role in Porcelanosa’s future?
H. Colonques: Africa is a market with strong growth prospects, but we are approaching it more slowly. We already
have two showrooms in Angola and Mozambique, and we
have our sights set on South
Africa.
Tile International: What’s
your view of the current widespread instability in the global geopolitical and economic scenario?
H. Colonques: The current situation is very serious and I’m
not particularly optimistic.
Along with ongoing conflicts
in various parts of the world
and the slowdown in many
emerging economies, we’re
also facing problems closer to
home as it currently appears
impossible to form a stable
government in Spain. Having
said this, over our 40 years of
history we have learned to
adapt to situations and have
always tried to emerge stronger from every crisis, sometimes
learning to optimise and tighten our proverbial belts, on other occasions simply reinventing ourselves.
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