AWI has helped Australian wool bedding manufacturer Wool Products Australia Pty Ltd promote its products in Wing On department stores in Hong Kong – one of the largest retailers in the region.

Wool Products Australia is a 100-per-cent privately owned and operated Australian company, producing products under the Woolstar brand. It has been a Woolmark licensee for 14 years, and exports now make up half of the firm’s total production.

Located at Ingleburn, 50 kilometres south-west of Sydney, its manufacturing facility is equipped with state-of-the-art high technology equipment, which enables it to supply a comprehensive range of woollen products, such as quilts, underblankets and blankets.

The Wing On Department Stores Group is one of the largest and best known retailers in Hong Kong. Over a century after it was established in 1907, Wing On has become a firmly established household name and a leader in the department store business in Hong Kong.

This was the first time that Wing On had had sold the Woolstar wool quilt in Hong Kong. The promotion was at four of its stores: Yau Ma Tei (the biggest store in Hong Kong), Sheung Wan, Tsim Sha Tsui and TaiKoo.

Wool Products Australia’s managing director Graeme Kerr says the Woolmark logo is very important in Asian markets.

“They rely on it to know they are buying a genuine product that has 100-per-cent wool content. It adds to their comfort, that they know the product is what it claims to be,” Mr Kerr says.

Mr Kerr claims that Australian businesses in Asia have a positive reputation, saying being Australian helps his firm’s advance into those markets.

“As well as the Woolmark logo, the offshore markets are also appreciative of the ‘Australian Made’ logo,” he says. “Australia has a persona of being an honest supplier of product, so the two logos combined are very powerful.”

AWI will provide training about the benefits of wool to Wing On retail staff next month.

* Wool Products Australia Pty Ltd is one of several Woolmark licensees currently exhibiting at the Heimtextil home textiles trade show in Frankfurt, Germany (12-15 January 2011).

More information:
Woolstar brand www.woolstar.com.au
Wing On stores www.wingonet.com/about_wo_store/about.php?lang=en