International Furniture Brands introduces Maison!
International Furniture Brands introduces Maison!

Luxury furniture brand Maison is the latest addition by International Furniture Brands which has been established with a mission to provide unique, handcrafted furniture & accessories sourced from luxury furniture manufacturers from North America and Europe. In an exclusive interview with Aruna Tara, Creative Director, Maison. Interview excerpts.. 

How do you see home furnishing market is growing in India luxury segment as you have years of experience operating in luxury segment? How do you differentiate Indian market to other markets where brand is operational? Also tell us about your latest addition? 

Maison is the latest addition to the portfolio of brands retailed under International Furniture Brands. We have been the pioneers of importing & distributing some of the world’s leading luxury furniture brands like Christopher Guy, Fendi Casa, Kenzo Maison,  Visionnaire by Ipe Cavalli, Armani Casa, Theodore Alexander ,Althorp Living History, Maitland-Smith, Baker and Ralph Lauren Home, to  name a few. We service a very niche segment of the luxury market in India which may be 1%. However, with the growth of the Indian economy and rapidly changing preferences of upwardly mobile homeowners, we see good growth prospects for Maison, in India. 

Kindly highlight your current retail footprint in online and offline space? What are your strategies to scale-up the same? 

We have launched our first Flagship store in Mumbai and plan to roll-out a total of 5 exclusive stores in key metros such as: New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata. In 2018 we will launch exclusive stores in Bengaluru & New Delhi. 

According to you what are the major challenges of luxury furniture retailing? 

We have been retailing Luxury furniture in India for 20 years now and have the experience and know-how to tackle any challenges that may arise in the future. 

What is your strategy on franchise distribution? Would you focus on franchise expansion or company-owned outlets? 

As mentioned we plan to establish a network of 5 exclusive stores across key metros. These will be company owned stores thereafter; we may explore the possibility of franchising our concept to other cities in the country. 

Presently, how many categories are retailed under Maison, and which is your best selling category? Also what are the plans for category expansion? 

Currently we retail high-quality furniture for living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, home office, executive offices & occasional furniture.We also retail a sophisticated selection of lighting and accessories. Living room furniture has always been the best selling category for us. In time, we will also add outdoor furniture, wallpaper, wooden flooring and tiles to our portfolio. 

Kindly mention your starting and exiting price point. Kindly also shed light on your average bill size? 

 Sofas began at Rs 3 lakhs going upwards to Rs.7 lakhs. Accessories can start from Rs. 10,000 going upwards to Rs .100,000. 

What are your strategies on online business?

We plan to go online once we have established our 5 exclusive stores across India. It is important to have proper logistics & supply chain to support the distribution channel, since these are high value products. 

Do you also retailed via your exclusive web store or leading marketplaces? Furniture is usually a high priced item. Do you think online is a viable trade channel for furniture like category? 

Online retail especially for furniture is not very feasible without actual brick and mortar stores as every customer likes to touch and feel the product to understand the comfort level and quality of materials use. When purchasing an entire living room setting consisting of sofas, armchairs, coffee tables, side tables, rugs, lamps etc, customers cannot fully visualize and get the complete brand experience online. Such conceptualization can only be done at the store level. Off course once a customer is well versed with the product, it’s easy for them to order online.


 

 

 

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