Furniture, furnishing and home accessories retailer @home sees no threat from the e-retailing surge that's sweeping the country. “Indians still value their hard-earned money and would rather have a touch-and-feel experience before they make high ticket purchases like furniture,” says Mr Manish Parekh, Executive Director, Nilkamal Ltd.
But, keeping in line with the current trend, the company is in the process of setting up its online store and expects to launch it in April this year. “But we don't foresee any cannibalisation of our offline stores business by the online version as the former would reach out to people who cannot visit our outlets,” he said.
Part of the Rs 1500-crore Nilkamal Group, @home now has 20 stores and plans to add five more in the next fiscal. At present, it has stores in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Ghaziabad, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Kochi, Thane, Surat and Vadodara.
The Nilkamal Group has so far invested Rs 75 crore in the @home chain of stores and has broken even at the EBITA level, Mr Parekh said.
Welcoming the Government's announcement of allowing 100 per cent FDI in single brand retail, Mr Parekh said brands like Ikea that are waiting in the wings for a considerable period of time, would help grow the domestic home furnishing and furniture market.