High-end furnishing segment is booming

The well known fashion designer JJ Valaya recently entered the premium home furnishing segment via their concept store ‘The Home of the Traveler’. In a conversation with Shipra Srivastava, Valaya highlighted the growth prospects in this segment.

You are a well established fashion designer, and why did you enter the home furnishing segment?

I have often not been able to find home furnishing products of my choice. Over the years, I have considered entering this segment, but this dream was recently realised when I entered into a partnership for this purpose.  My brother T J Singh has also played an important role, in terms of the collection we will offer at The Valaya Home Experience Centre in New Delhi, which we will launch shortly.  

The home furnishing segment is rather competitive. What is the USP of your store?

We have two brands, ‘The Home of the Traveler’ and 'The THT Boutique', and two outlets have been set up in NCR at MG Road and Meherchand market, respectively. And, our concept store, The Home of the Traveler offers high-end home décor, furniture and lifestyle accessories, and is a suitable mix of ‘old’ and ‘new’ world charm.

Who is the target audience for your concept store?

We cater primarily to clients who appreciate luxury, and offer a collection of culturally- inspired home accessories and furniture.

Kindly throw light on the growth prospects of the home furnishing market in the country?  

The home furnishing market is witnessing rapid growth, but I would like to highlight the limited choice for a customer in the high-end segment. Our store addresses this void in the premium segment with an eclectic mix of accessories and home furniture products.

In-store customer experience is key these days. Kindly highlight your strategy?

We are partnering with ‘The Wine Company’ for our concept store, and they would provide F&B solutions to us.

Your expansion plans? 

We plan to open a flagship store for The Home of the Traveler in Mumbai, soon. Further, for The THT boutique, we plan to have a pan India distribution network of at least 50 outlets over the medium term.  In addition, we are also planning to offer solutions online