From exports to catalogues for the domestic market and now aggressive store expansion plans, Elvy is set to make a mark in home fashion retailing. After the successful launch of mail order catalogue last year, the company is planning to open 10 outlets in North India by the end of 2008, taking its store tally to 15.
The new openings are planned for cities like Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Jaipur and Kanpur. Five of the ten outlets will be through franchisees, while the rest will be owned by the company. Presently, Elvy retails through five stores in Delhi and NCR.
“Looking at the overwhelming response that we received from the very first mail order catalogue, we rescheduled our long-term plans and moved into retailing earlier than what we planned,” Lovy Khosla, managing director, Elvy, told Indiaretailing. Khosla did not reveal his investments plans, but admitted that all capital is through self-funding and no private equity or external capital is involved in the venture.
The product categories in the stores span kitchen, bar, bed, furnishings, office, garden and many more, and are in sync with those in the Elvy catalogue. About 60 per cent of these products are imported and the rest are exclusively designed and manufactured by the company itself.
Elvy is the brainchild of export major Stalwart Creations and entered the domestic market by introducing mail order catalogue in home fashion last year. The company claims that its catalogue reaches over 10 million homes nationwide.
– Ranjan Kaplish, Delhi
