French luxury furniture maker Gautier France SAS today announced the opening up of its fifth store in the country through its venture partner Ebony Gautier, and mentioned that the company will open three more stores in India by March 2012.

“Of this, two store will come up at Faridabad near Delhi and another one in Express Mall in Chennai by January. We are looking at setting up 20 stores within two years as we feel India has immense potential for the kind of products we offer,” said Mr David Soulard, Director General and Chief Executive Officer of Gautier.

During an interaction with Business Line at their new store, Mr Soulard said, “We have embraced Hyderabad which has a young aspirational population who would love to acquire our products. By offering them a wide choice and without any delay in supplies, we would be able to attract them.”

The company has two warehouses in the country.

While welcoming the recent Cabinet decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail, he said that this move would provide more choice to buyers and the overall quality of products would go up. In the long-run prices may also come down.

Mr Abhijeet Mitra, Chief Executive Officer of Ebony Gautier, said, “since the launch of Gautier's first store in India in 2007, we have quickly begun to offer customised solutions for home furnishings. By providing an opportunity to experience this through a presentation, we help them make informed decisions.”

While the country's furniture market is estimated to be Rs 44,000 crore, in the segment where Gautier operates, it is about Rs 1,000 crore of the Rs 8,000 crore organised business.

“About 80 million people in India earn more than Rs 50 lakh per annum. This is the segment we are targeting,” Mr Soulard said.

vrishi@thehindu.co.in

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