Sugandha Bhardwaj
Director Brinjal Designs Pvt Ltd
Design is the core of a home furnishing product
New Delhi-based Brinjal Designs Pvt Ltd manufactures home furnishing and textile products. Its product range is an amalgam of traditional, contemporary and modern designs. Being Indian is central to its brand ethos. A large number of its products are sourced directly through weavers and tribals from their villages. It has created a contemporary avatar of the traditional Indian art forms in home décor. Company director Sugandha Bhardwaj speaks to Fibre2Fashion about the home furnishing industry in the country.
What is the current scenario of the home furnishing market in India and overseas?
The home furnishing market in India has a great opportunity for growth. We see the segment capable of driving the next boom in the Indian retail industry. The space is presently dominated by the unorganised sector that caters to more than 90 per cent of the market. The top organised brand retailers like Atmosphere, D'décor and Maspar cater to the premium segment. Top manufacturing companies like Bombay Dyeing, Welspun and Portico have a wide footprint and acceptance, but are doing limited categories and not providing comprehensive solutions. There are only a few brands with a national footprint, which cater to the burgeoning middle and upper middle class segment. There is a considerable gap in service in this segment. We are positioning ourselves in this gap to provide a wide range of choices for discerning customers.
What are the challenges ahead? Do you have any expansion plans?
If we want to satisfactorily service our target segment, we would have to expand fast and be available at multiple points of sale (POS). Be it large format stores (LFS) or trade channel or through exclusive company-owned company-operated (COCO) and franchise outlets, our primary challenge is to expand fast yet judiciously, keeping the whole show of sourcing, production, logistics, finance and sale through POS well coordinated.
We plan to have 50-60 POS in next two fiscals, with COCO and franchise stores forming the bulk, followed by LFS, trade and online sales respectively.
What percentage of revenue is invested in R&D?
R&D is a progressive effort in our company. As of now, we are a start-up and have a fixed investment in R&D that is not linked to revenue. As we grow, we plan to devote a considerable per cent of revenue to R&D.
Which are the fast growing categories within home furnishing in domestic market?
Curtains and cushions are showing a promising growth. People are developing affinity for table linen and table accessories. This is followed closely by the bed linen and bath accessories segments. Artifacts have seasonal appeal and add to impulse buying.
Tell us about your journey so far.
I began my career with the brand Weekender (Gokaldas Images) in the late 1990s. Since then it has been a roller coaster ride up and down the corporate alleyways. I was also associated with some known names in the retailing industry along with stints in logistics management with a few giants, including Gati Limited. Overall, it was a rich, challenging and uplifting journey.
I have got associated with a new venture in home décor: manufacturing, branding and retailing. I recently launched the brand 'Colours Of India' by Brinjal Designs Pvt. Ltd.
Please let us know about the machinery used for weaving, printing, stitching and finishing.
We are not into weaving; instead, we outsource fabrics. Our special collection fabrics are hand woven and hand embroidered by weavers and artisans. For stitching, we use high-end dry head stitching machines as our products mainly have embellishments and other hand work embroidery forms. Our finishing task is completely manual once the merchandise is dry-cleaned. All the thread cutting and alterations for final finishing are done manually.
Where do you source the raw materials from?
Drawing inspiration from Indian heritage, we obtain raw material, artifacts and hand embroidery from rural and semi-urban centres. For example, we source Dokra artifacts from Bastar and Bolepur. Kantha work is sourced from West Bengal. Semi-urban centres like Panipat provide great source for specialty fabrics like jacquards. We have set up a well-coordinated logistics network for handling such a diverse sourcing.
How important is design in home furnishing products? What are your strengths?
Design is the core of any home furnishing product. The design and its adaptation or application drive offtake. Also, in a price sensitive and value-driven market space, sensible pricing has a high premium. Innovative design strategies are needed to provide for the challenging twin requirements of appealing design and reasonable pricing.
Our strength is the ability to draw from the rich heritage of India and adapt it to the taste of a modern clientele. To derive an amalgam of Indian heritage and style from rest of the world, our innovative design, sourcing and manufacturing strategies help us to keep the pricing at a reasonable level.
Do you use online and e-commerce for B2C segments to sell your products?
We are at the initial stage and are discussing with websites like Myntra and Amazon. We hope to retail through these portals very soon. As of now, we do not have plans to introduce our own e-commerce-enabled site.
How has the demand been from clients over the last couple of years?
Forecasting demand at this stage is not feasible. But we hope to reach a top line of 30-40 crore by the end of two fiscals.
As a start-up, tell us about some of your HR practices.
Being a start-up, our primary objective is formation of a great team of professionals. We have introduced progressive HR policies to help our employees deliver their best at the work place. We are one of the very few companies offering extended maternity benefits up to 26 weeks of maternity leaves. We also encourage young mothers in our team to bring their babies to the office. The idea is that mothers feed and take care of babies well beyond the initial maternity leave period.
We provide flexible hours to young mothers so that they may manage their schedules with a little less stress. The facility is also available to our male employees in executive and above cadre.
All our labourers are on company payroll and are provided mandatory health services through ESI schemes and are benefited through all government policies.
We are working towards uplifting artisans. The majority of our décor products are various art forms of Indian handicrafts, which are exclusively made to order for 'Colours Of India'.
Further corporate social responsibility activities would require sustained investment and we will take them up as per our fiscal situation in coming years. (RR)
Published on: 07/11/2017
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
