Creation of Palazzo Sisustussalong
April 2004 was relatively warm compared to 2024. Two budding interior architects got into a car and drove to the capital to meet their first kitchen furniture client. They carried a brochure featuring photos of two kitchen models: one with light blue matte painted doors and the other with yellow high-gloss doors. This was the first sales transaction of a new interior design team, which a few months later gave birth to Palazzo Interior Design Salon. Faith and vision came later; initially, there was only courage and a strong desire to test themselves.
Airita’s career change in interior architecture
It all began when a mother of two decided it was time for a change and went to study interior architecture. Airita had previously graduated in fashion design, but she had loved designing spaces and drawing since childhood. So, the field of interior architecture seemed like the right direction. Around the same time, her husband Aleksander, while on a business trip, met a renowned furniture dealer. From their conversation, the idea emerged to create a studio in Pärnu offering design furniture and interior architecture services, where clients could get turnkey solutions for homes and offices. Thus, Palazzo interior design salon was born.
Opening of the interior design salon in Pärnu
The enthusiastic and enterprising family began looking for suitable partners to realize their projects and didn’t have to search far. A few months later, after many sleepless nights and brainstorming sessions with factory designers and owners, an interior design salon was opened in Pärnu’s new shopping center Kaubamajakas, offering furniture collections from the Latvian specialty furniture manufacturer “Larme.” The timing was perfect – in June 2004, Estonia’s economy was growing robustly, and there was a high demand for quality real estate and modern design. Palazzo Interior Design Salon was ready to meet this demand.
Growth and expansion to Tallinn
To the founders’ surprise, the demand was so great that they had to start thinking about expanding the team. The first clients were naturally from Pärnu, but there were also many who had summer homes in Pärnu but lived elsewhere, in Tallinn, Tartu, Helsinki. Word of the new design furniture salon spread from person to person, bringing in more and more orders.
At some point, the salon’s founders realized that the number of clients living in Tallinn had grown so large that it was time to open a salon in Tallinn. By then, they had already attended the Milan furniture and design fair iSaloni, where new connections and partnerships were formed. The product portfolio was expanded to include a range of prestigious Italian furniture manufacturers. One of these brands, which was imported to Estonia and remains very innovative and in demand, is Mobilficio San Giacomo.
Expansion to Finland
In 2008, they decided to expand to Finland, where several wonderful projects were realized at that time. They opened a showroom in Ideakeskus near Tampere, but this project had to be closed before it properly took off. The economic downturn hit Finland faster and harder than Estonia. Despite the closure of the showroom, Palazzo Interiors’ salon still carries out exciting work for clients in Finland and Sweden, as well as other parts of Europe.
Collaboration with Italian furniture manufacturers
Since the Latvian partners could no longer cope with the growing demand within a reasonable timeframe, a suitable kitchen furniture manufacturer with a good price-quality ratio had to be found quickly. Thus, Antares Cucine came to Estonia, remaining a highly competitive partner even today. The undeniable strength of Italian manufacturers lies in the concentration of the entire Italian furniture industry in specific production areas. Furniture board, fittings, and finishing manufacturers are located side by side, allowing very cost-effective production. Historical traditions, an exceptional design school, and investment in production automation ensure affordable prices, excellent design, and reasonable delivery times. Palazzo Interiors’ design salon is very proud of its Italian partners.
Impact of the economic downturn and strategic changes
Just before the 2008-2009 economic downturn, our design salon employed 13 people, with the main sales articles being Italian custom furniture for apartments and houses in the new developments popping up everywhere. However, the designer’s heart longed for turnkey solutions and large, challenging projects. When structural changes were made just before the downturn, the family business owners decided to mitigate risks by closing studios on rented premises and investing in their own spaces in Pärnu, where Palazzo Interiors’ design salon still operates today.
These strategic decisions prevented high business risks and allowed the focus to shift to projects that provided the most satisfaction to the interior architects. Furniture order volumes decreased, but the square footage of interior architectural projects increased significantly. This was recognized a few times by the Äripäeva Gaselli Congress, which acknowledged the sustainable growth of local entrepreneurs. The Palazzo Interiors design salon team is very proud and extremely grateful for the opportunities to participate in exciting projects, designing rental spaces, homes, offices, commercial spaces, hotels, restaurants, kindergartens, and larger apartment building interior solutions. Often, clients have given them free rein and later praised the end results as excellent.
Pidev areng ja tulevikusuunad
Naturally, all projects involving more than two people come with various risks, big and small. Professionals are distinguished by their awareness of the risks they take and their responsibility for their part in the project, always ready for compromises with partners and furnishing companies. The focus is solely on the satisfied client.
A key focus for the Palazzo Interiors design salon team is continuous development, self-improvement, and maintaining curiosity. In the winter of 2023, the company successfully completed the Digitalization Masterclass, resulting in the launch of an e-store, an updated website, a new marketing strategy, and a drive for growth despite the economic downturn that began in 2022. The turbulent economic and political climate of recent years has negatively impacted many companies in the construction and architecture fields.
The company successfully collaborates with several esteemed interior architects, assisting in furniture design, selection, delivery, and installation. Such collaboration is beneficial for all parties, as Palazzo has developed a very broad network of suppliers over 20 years and can diversify the offered furniture and interior elements.
Our design salon has found its strong niche amid this turbulence. Being flexible and quickly responsive to changes, we have successfully navigated between obstacles and, over nearly 20 years, provided our new and loyal clients with excellent interior design services and a very wide product portfolio. At the end, it would be worth noting how many thousands of square meters of commercial and residential space have been designed and furnished over these 20 years, but well, who can count them all now?
Today, the new direction is to offer clients interior design solutions, design furniture sales, and installation across Europe. The Palazzo Interiors design salon team is open to new exciting challenges!
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