With the 2026 Salone del Mobile Approaching, the Molteni Group is Investing 50 Million Euros Over Five Years

It is in this context that the Italian Molteni Group, a long-standing player in the high-end furniture sector, has already made a strong impression by announcing a five-year investment plan of 50 million euros, aimed at strengthening its international expansion, industrial capabilities, and retail network. This aggressive strategy is backed by strong growth ambitions. It must be said that the group’s financial performance provides ample cause for optimism: 2025 revenue stood at around 660 million euros, up 9% from the previous year’s results.

This announcement comes at a time when the high-end furniture and design market is entering a phase of normalization following the post-COVID euphoria. According to industry data, the 2025 Salone del Mobile generated nearly €278 million in economic impact, a 15% increase compared to 2023—the benchmark year for normalization—as 2024 data is not yet available. The 2025 edition welcomed approximately 302,000 visitors. This year, the fair will confirm Milan’s resilience as a global design hub despite the high volatility of international markets influenced by the geopolitical turmoil currently dominating the news.

Geographically, market dynamics remain mixed. Chinese demand, long considered the sector’s driving force, is now uneven, while Europe shows fragile stability and growth in the United States is primarily driven by high-end segments.

Over the past two years, major luxury design houses have thus followed divergent trajectories. B&B Italia and Poltrona Frau, for example, have maintained steady growth driven largely by the luxury hospitality sector, while players more closely tied to the “residential” market have experienced a slowdown or stabilization following the post-Covid rebound, such as Roche Bobois and Kartell.

Globally, the luxury furniture market, estimated at approximately $24 billion in 2024, continues to grow at a moderate pace of around 5 to 6% annually.

In this context, established groups such as Molteni, Flos, and Minotti are now prioritizing strategies of vertical integration and moving upmarket rather than growth in sales volume. We are thus witnessing a shift in values: design is increasingly becoming a long-term investment ecosystem, where scarcity is the watchword and architectural collaborations are crucial to brands’ move upmarket.