Making the switch from a law career, Carlos Salamonovitz is now a multi-unit franchisee of BoConcept, the Danish furniture design brand that has more than 300 stores in 65 countries.
Does color affect your emotions? Recent psychological studies looking at how aesthetics and interior design affect your mental health show how trendy the curated design space is, and Carlos Salamonovitz was taking notes.
Salamonovitz always had a passion for interior design and furniture. At 40 years old and having worked many years as a lawyer for businesses both abroad and in Mexico City where he grew up, Salamonovitz sought a career that combined his business expertise with his artistic passion.
After contacting leaders at BoConcept, a 70-year-old furniture design firm founded in Denmark that creates functional products by partnering with leading interior designers, Salamonovitz took over the franchise rights for Mexico in 2017. He now has nine stores open in the country and earlier this year added a fourth location in Southern Florida, where he has four more in various stages of development.
“We knew that Mexico would eventually reach the maximum number of stores, so when the opportunity arose for us to consider Florida, I said let’s jump into that opportunity,” Salamonovitz said.
Similar to Swedish furniture company Ikea to its north, BoConcept specializes in premium quality interior design for the “urban-minded customer” and curates furniture collections on its website grouped by rooms. The brand also maintains affordable pricing, at least by a luxury brand’s standards. An entire dining room set featured on its website retails for $17,529.65.
With more than 300 stores in 65 countries and a mission to double its footprint in the near future, BoConcept touts itself as Denmark’s most global retail furniture chain.
Though Salamonovitz continues to use his legal expertise in his business, he admitted it’s a different environment, “being in a law firm versus every day working in a design environment, surrounded by architects, designers and clients.”
“Every day when I come into work, I feel blessed—doing what I love doing, being an entrepreneur, but also working in the home furnishing industry,” he said. “I consider myself lucky because my everyday job is my hobby.”
Salamonovitz said the brand’s designs are far from cookie-cutter, with hundreds of potential configurations and fabric choices for customers to choose from and personalize. “I think BoConcept is well positioned in our market, in the segment we work with because of the personalization,” he said.
The key to successfully operating a BoConcept store, he added, is to sell a holistic experience rather than a product. Many shoppers look online for everything from clothes to furniture, and BoConcept customers can begin with digital shopping and then come into the store to finalize the transaction.
“We can sell products online, but we work so much on personalization, and the more luxury you go, the more people want to go into the store to see the product, feel it, see the fabrics, the leathers, woods,” Salamonovitz said. “At the end of the day, they want to touch and feel it because they’re buying a luxury product.”
The majority of his business comes from residential clients furnishing their first or second homes, though BoConcept does have some business-to-business contracts with hotels and restaurants, plus offices looking for “harmonic ambiance.”
Since people were at home more during pandemic shutdowns and continue to spend more time at home, Salamonovitz has noticed an increase in people wanting to invest in better homes and lifestyles.
“Nowadays, people are looking to buy less but better quality, and are looking for brands with good design, good storytelling, and foundationally good quality at good pricing points,” Salamonovitz said, when asked about recent design trends.
Sustainability is also an important factor for the modern consumer, and it helps that BoConcept has heritage brands that are transparent about their quality, production and sustainability standards, he said.
“People today are looking for 360-degree solutions that will adapt to their styles and budget, and that’s where I believe BoConcept comes in, given that we provide that solution that goes from the smallest accessory to the biggest piece of furniture,” Salamonovitz noted.
“Franchising is amazing and I’ve found good partners to work with. For me, it’s been a good journey, and we understood each other in terms of our philosophy and our values,” he added of his relationship with the franchisor. “In the end, you need a partner that will work with you through the good and bad and not-so-stable times.”