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Chennai, June 20 Varun Industries Ltd, exporter of branded stainless steel cookware, kitchenware and other utility items, on Wednesday launched its first exclusive retail outlet — Varun Premium Kitchenware and More — in Chennai.

The company has been exporting branded stainless utensils for more than a decade, but began planning entry into the domestic market only two years ago; and its recent IPO was primarily meant to fund this venture. The company mobilised Rs 54 crore thorough the IPO, of which it earmarked Rs 10 crore for brand-building. It plans a total of 36 stores (both in small and large formats) across cities in the next two years with a proposed investment of Rs 20-25 crore. “The launch of the Chennai store will be followed by Mumbai (four stores), Delhi (two stores) and one each in Ahmedabad and Pune, in quick succession,” said Mr Kailash Agarwal, Joint Managing Director, Varun Industries Ltd. To start with, the company will own and run these stores, and later it may consider opening stores on franchisee basis.

Besides utensils, it also plans to introduce premium quality, stone-studded stainless steel jewellery. According to Mr Mayur N. Doshi, Vice-President (Finance), Varun Industries, in the first year, the company will focus only on establishing the brand as it does not expect this venture to churn in much revenues for the company’s turnover from the first year of operation. Talking about the overall market trend, he said the size of the domestic stainless steel utensils is Rs 10,000 crore. Of this, branded premium product market is of very negligible size. “So, we see a huge potential for our products as they do not fall in the high-priced designer (category) but in the premium quality category,” said Mr Doshi.

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