How Flying Tiger aims to compete in Australia with playful, affordable design
Flying Tiger Copenhagen has officially landed in Australia – and is bringing its signature maze store layout and playful seasonal products with it.
The European brand has partnered with Bernardi Group to establish a presence in Australia. The first two stores will open in Sydney’s Stockland Shopping Centres before adding three further stores in New South Wales to its bricks-and-mortar network in 2025.
Flying Tiger’s expansion strategy is rapid; it plans to have a footprint of 50 stores across Australia in the next five years.
The design-led variety retailer is looking to offer Australian consumers an entirely new shopping experience and fill a gap in the market with its sustainable, affordable and playful designs.
Going down under
Flying Tiger Copenhagen has a global retail presence that spans 38 countries with 990 stores but the Australia launch will be its first venture into the Southern Hemisphere.
While the Danish brand is no stranger to adjusting its product and campaigns to its location, Australia’s holiday and seasonal calendar meant Flying Tiger Copenhagen had to reimagine its usual ‘white Christmas’ catalog.
“We do have a large Southeast Asian, Middle East and European presence – so clearly, we work across different seasons and different climates, if you will,” Martin Jermiin, CEO of Flying Tiger Copenhagen, told Inside Retail.
“But this is by far the biggest in terms of shifting around, whether it’s back to school, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and summer fun stuff,” he continued.
“Of course, we were going to merchandise and offer a completely different experience in those seasons to the Australian consumer than we do in the rest of the world.”
When asked about brand recognition, Jermiin said that there is an awareness of the Flying Tiger Copenhagen brand in Australia but he doesn’t like to assume that it will translate into shopping.
“We start with a very humble approach, and assume that we’ll have to start building the brand and the awareness from scratch,” shared Jermiin.
“But sometimes we do get surprised at exactly how many people do know us, regardless of distance and then we get overwhelmed with the response – so we’re ready for more,” he added.
Tis’ the season
Flying Tiger Copenhagen’s entrance into the Australian market could not be timed more perfectly – it’s peak retail season in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.
“We open new markets across the year, for Australia it just turned out that early in the discussion, it quite quickly centered on a timeline that fit an early Christmas launch,” Jermiin revealed.
“And once that settled in, everyone got excited, because then we get to show some really fantastic things,” he added.
One of the brand’s key messages is that a richer life doesn’t cost a fortune, something it executes on with its affordable product range priced mostly under $10.
“A lot of people are feeling that pressure,” Jermiin said, regarding the financial strain many Australian households are facing. “That is a global [trend] and a lot of mature economies have seen rough times with inflation spiking and wages not following,” he added.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to help to alleviate some of that the consumers are dealing with.”
A unique proposition
There is little to compare Flying Tiger Copenhagen’s one-of-a-kind shopping experience in the Australian retail landscape.
“One of the beauties is we operate across 14 categories and no one quite looks like us and we know that from markets where we can be located near several competitors – we can still do well and they will also still do well,” stated Jermiin.
“We’re less focused on the competition and more focused on making sure we put our best foot forward and showing the Australian consumer what fun, quirky Danish design can do,” he continued.
The closest thing Flying Tiger Copenhagen has to competition in Australia might be Kmart, The Reject Shop, Aldi’s centre aisle or Daiso – but none of the aforementioned brands exclusively design in-house like the Danish-born brand.
“We’re very fortunate to be a bit of a unique animal and thrive on that, we invest in that, and want to double down on that,” Jarmiin concluded.
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