JOIN USFurniture manufacturer Spacewood is looking at extensive expansion in the City with plans to invest around Rs 5 crore over the next two years.
The company will open its first flagship store — the ‘Experience Centre’ — in Bengaluru by the end of this year. “We have already decided on a property on Indiranagar 100 feet road to set up the store,” said Kirit Joshi, CEO of Spacewood, adding, “The Experience Store alone will be built at an investment of Rs 1 crore.”
“From the eCommerce perspective, Bengaluru is our biggest market. It constitutes 30-35 per cent of our total online market,”he said. “But offline, we have very poor presence in the city. Spacewood presence in Bengaluru is currently marked by five-six multibrand retail outlets,” he added.
“What we are planning now, is an exclusive store that will cater to the more sophisticated and niche audience,” said Joshi. The format of the store is based on the design-in-built concept. It would display products in their natural settings such as a bedroom or a kitchen, thereby giving the customer a better handle on the experience front. “Experience stores will not sell knick-knacks like a shoe rack. Experience stores will specialise in customisation and design,” he said.
The store would specialise in high-end products that are expensive and cater to a rich taste. Spacewood is a premium products range with starting prices at Rs 30,000–Rs 60,000. “For an entire bedroom set, which we plan to offer at the Experience Store, the price will lie anywhere between Rs 70,000–Rs 1.5 lakh,” he said. “We also plan to assist customers with interior designers who can help them with designing the layout of their room, furnishings, lighting, upholstery, colours, etc. We will take up the softer part of designing a room,” he said.