Portico New York, the home furnishing brand from Creative Portico India Ltd, is looking at the oncoming festival season to rekindle its expansion plans and give a fillip to its business.
The retailer is planning to boost same store sales in the festive season and also open 10 standalone stores through the franchise route across metros and Tier-II towns. The average size of these stores will be 500-1,000 sq ft. The company currently has only one standalone store.
Portico had put its expansion plans on hold owing to the current economic slowdown.
Chandan S, senior general manager– retail and marketing, Creative Portico India Ltd, says, “Things are getting much better now. The consumer is ready to spend after holding themselves back for a while. We will open 10 stores this year and 10 more in the next year.”
The retailer is expecting same store sales to increase 40 per cent during the oncoming festival season against last year’s sales growth of 25 per cent. The company is also planning to increase its marketing and advertising spend this year.
Portico recently launched Marigold — a marriage special range of home furnishings priced between Rs 2, 000 and 10, 000. The company is confident of a high off-take of the product despite the high pricing. “In the home segment, the furniture part has been badly hit, but people have continued to purchase furnishings,” Chandan says.
“There is a huge gap in the home solutions segment that still needs to be tapped. Currently, there is not a single wedding special gifting option in the home segment available in the market,” he says.
Of the Rs 6,500 crore home furnishings market, the organised sector has only five per cent, while the rest lies with the unorganised players,” Chandan adds. Portico, which currently sells its products through 600 outlets across the country, has revenue-sharing arrangements in place with retailers like Home Solutions, Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, @ Home and Home Town.
Source: DNA
