Samsonite has taken direct control of the Tumi China retail and distribution business.

The changeover was a logical progression from last year’s takeover of the Tumi business by Hong Kong-listed Samsonite.

Samsonite has acquired assets, including inventory, store fixtures and furniture, as well as rights under retail store leases, from Imaginex Holdings. Imaginex’s term as distributor of Tumi products in Hong Kong (including Macau) and China expired on March 31, 2017.

Imaginex has been Tumi’s distributor in in the three territories since 2005. It operated 13 points-of-sale in Hong Kong (including Macau) as of last week, including eight Tumi freestanding stores and five stores-in-stores in department stores. Imaginex also operated 14 points-of-sale in China, including 10 Tumi freestanding stores and four stores-in-stores.

“This is another important step for the Samsonite Group, and follows on rapidly from the assumption of the direct control of Tumi’s product distribution in South Korea, on January 1,” said Ramesh Tainwala, Samsonite’s CEO.

“The Tumi brand inspires enormous loyalty, and we are already experiencing strong interest in Tumi amongst affluent Chinese customers in Mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong, and amongst both men and women.

With direct control of our distribution, we intend to leverage Samsonite’s on-the-ground resources and market knowledge, to support the rapid expansion of Tumi in this region.”

Alice Wong, president of Imaginex, said her company was “extremely proud” of the brand visibility it has developed for Tumi in Hong Kong, Macau and China.

“I have no doubt that we will continue to see, with Samsonite’s scale and expertise together with Tumi’s strong customer following, brand awareness in the region growing from strength to strength.”