How has been the journey of Stanley Lifestyles from its inception?
In 1996 when Bangalore city was abuzz with stories of IT start ups, I ventured into an unknown territory of luxury leather car seat manufacturing with nothing but a rented garage and our first customer was the General Motors Vendor Development office.
My past experience with manufacturing fine leather garments for brands like Gucci & YSL had given me an innate understanding of true luxury. In due course, we started associating with state-of-the-art tanneries in Australia, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. Today, Stanley OEM Sofas Ltd bring the best of German Engineering, Italian design & European luxury material with Indian craftsmanship to the discerning customer. We are India’s only fully integrated furniture manufacturer, retailer, and exporter with an in-depth domain expertise and capabilities to design and manufacture the high-end furniture and lifestyle accessories.
Being a trusted OEM vendor to global organizations like Toyota, Ford, and IKEA, Stanley integrates world-class quality and reliability in its operations. Our focus is on domestic residential furniture, specialising in motion sofas or recliners. We have a team of Italian, and German designers working with us and we design products specifically for Indian needs.
What are the current buyer trends and industry dynamics?
Post Covid, there has been a greater emphasis on home, comfort, durability and sustainability. People are more product conscious and home proud. As people are spending more time at home, they want quality products in their homes.
India has a large housing market predicted to reach a trillion-dollar market by 2030. This makes it a great place to be right now for us. However, retail segment is not an organised market in India with about 80% home furniture and furnishing market being unorganised. Moreover, India is dumped with Chinese products, which is again a big competition. To convert that mind-set of the customers towards branded has been our biggest challenge. Though, there has been much change in buyer’s preferences over the years and the shift is gradually happening.
What are the foreseeable opportunities for the furniture industry?
There is a golden opportunity for the furniture industry in India, if Indian Government restricts the Chinese imports, like some other countries that have imposed heavy tariffs on furniture imports. This will encourage and promote Indian manufacturers not only to cater to the growing domestic consumption but also export to other countries.
