Thaindian News

Bangalore, Nov 9 (IANS) India’s leading home fabric exporter Himatsingka Seide Ltd. is foraying into the domestic market to cash-in on the huge potential for branded furnishings in a buoyant economy, a top company official said Tuesday.

“We plan to open 120 stores across the country to promote our new brand of home furnishings in the mid-market segment. We are working on the design and brand,” company managing director Dinesh Himatsingka told reporters here.

The Rs.1,100-crore home textile major, which generates 95 percent of revenue from exports, plans to invest about Rs.100 crore for setting up the stores in tier-1 and tier-2 cities over the next four to five years.

“In addition, we will enhance our retail presence in the luxury brand in India and overseas by expanding our chain of 14 ‘Atmosphere’ stores to 30 during the next couple of years,” Himatsingka said.

The Bangalore-based listed firm has set up a greenfield bed linen production facility at Hassan, about 180 km from here, in the special economic zone (SEZ) with an installed capacity of 21 million metres per annum at a cost of Rs.500 crore.

The company’s Rs.300-crore furnishing fabrics plant at Doddaballapur on the outskirts of this tech hub is the largest luxury fabrics producer in the country with an installed capacity of 2.2 million metres per annum.

“We believe our initiatives to enhance our presence in India is both strategic and timely to harness the immense potential in the domestic market with our domain expertise in product development, manufacturing and distribution,” Himatsingka said.

According to management consulting firm Technopak, the Rs. 20,000-crore home textile market, though largely in the unorganised sector, is growing a 30 percent per annum due to changing lifestyle, disposable income, increasing demand from housing and commercial segments, including hospitality sector and flair for decoration.

“We intend to leverage our global presence and brand equity as a major vertically integrated home textile player in the domestic market and promote branded products in the retail segment, where the organised sector is yet make a dent,” Himatsingka said.

To expand its global footprint and build a strong portfolio of brands, the company made three acquisitions in Europe and North America since 2007, coughing up Rs.400 crore.

The first brand acquisition was Bellora S.p.A, the Italian luxury bed-linen in Europe, followed by Calvin Klein Home and Barbara Barry in the US.

“We envisage the home textile market to grow to about 30,000 crore by 2015. It is prudent for us to build on our current retail presence and ensure that we are well positioned to address the needs of this growing market,” executive director Shrikant Himatsingka said.

The company has set a revenue target of Rs.2,500 crore by 2014-15, with Rs.700 crore from its domestic retail portfolio.