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Purvita Chatterjee

Mumbai, Nov. 29 Godrej & Boyce’s Interio Division is seeking a joint venture with a European player to launch a premium furniture brand in the country. Currently, the company is looking for partners in Europe to forge a distribution arrangement which may subsequently get converted into a joint venture.

Mr Anil S. Mathur, Chief Operating Officer, Interio Division, Godrej & Boyce, told Business Line: “We are talking to some European furniture brands to get their products into the Indian market. The purpose is to move up the ladder and bring in a new brand at the premium end of the market. We may start with a distribution tie-up and forge a joint venture with the European company later.”

Currently, the company’s furniture and interior brand, Interio, addresses the mid-segment of the market. It is now looking at segmenting its offerings by creating a sub-brand to stand for its premium offerings in the market.

“While Interio will stand for the furniture and interior brand, there are plans to create a sub-brand that would be different and stand for a new segment in the market. The purpose is to bring in a high-end lifestyle brand,” says Mr Mathur. Currently, the company is negotiating with a couple of family-owned brands in the European market that are specialists in furniture designing.

However, the company’s strategy for the Indian market is to create value for its Interio brand. “Today our objective is to have brand values more than having a brand name. We want to have designs which can be done in a cost-effective manner so that we can give them at an affordable price,” states Mr Mathur.

Having extended its Interio brand into mattresses recently, there are now plans to stretch it further into new categories. “We are looking at taking Interio into new areas such as hospital furniture and even furnishings,” claims Mr Mathur.

Considering there are hardly any national players in the furnishings segment, Interio intends tapping into this segment. Mr Mathur says, “There are no national players and currently we are trying to understand consumer behaviour in this segment. We hope to enter this segment within the next year.” Besides, in the case of hospital furniture, the Intrerio brand would bring in hospital beds and tables under it to cater to this health care segment of the market.

The Rs 1,000 crore Interio brand has been growing at 30 per cent for the past three years.

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