“I first became aware of the lack of originality in furniture when my wife and I were furnishing our first home,” reflects Reissi. “We trekked around the furniture chains finding various versions of the same designs, even in the larger Italian branded chain-stores.” Reissi was disillusioned with the abundance of products made in China, often copies of other countries’ designs and lacking in both style and quality. “Australia imports 85% of its total furniture, kitchen and bathroom products from China and is far behind Europe when it comes to a new style and lifestyle concepts,” he explains.

Unable to tolerate this state of affairs, Reissi travelled Europe in search of more interesting furnishing products and found greater originality and better quality in Germany, Italy, Spain and France. “After engaging with various manufacturers in these countries, Italy stood out for us,” Reissi recounts. “Italy has always been a country of design flair and originality. It also has high quality manufacturers, and following the financial crisis relatively low cost.”

Reissi’s sourcing of product revolves around not only an awareness of a deficiency in the Australian market’s offering, but also an understanding of what Australian consumers are searching for. “People are looking for whole room or house design themes, and particularly so when they are replacing furniture bought for the first time home when budgets were tight,” Reissi explains. “We recognised that currently there are no companies that provide a solution for a full service interior and exterior design concept including manufacturing, delivery and installation with a prestigious but affordable range of European made quality products.”

Today, Reissi and his team are building a full service ecommerce platform, showcasing their core philosophy of offering authentic, high-quality, beautiful Italian design. The ‘Reissi Mall’ online store will cater for lower-priced products, enabling customers to visualise, customise and buy furnishings via the website.

The ‘Reissi Empire’ brand, with its stunning Camperdown showroom, has a strong focus on the luxury and ultra-luxury markets. “Our project section provides a total solution in philosophy, design, product and customisation for top-end residential and commercial clients,” says Reissi.

After six years of careful planning and preparation, the Reissi brands are ready to make their mark on the Australian design industry.

reissiempire.com.au
(61 2) 9598 8100