MUMBAI — D’Décor has plans to add 11 more retail stores in India under the name ‘The D’Décor Store’ with the 4,000 square foot flagship in Mumbai already opened. The stores feature complete line of D’Décor’s own collections and has plans to stock up to 10% imported fabrics. 

D’Decor produces a wide range of furnishing fabrics and retailers cannot stock the full range due to expensive floor space & our stores will give complete range of D Decor product experience under one roof for total home designing. The stores will be having fabrics and accessories along with imported stocks choice too, added Sanjay. D’Decor has also launched curtain blinds and made to measure product for the Indian and Global market. The company has also introduced three-meter curtain panels with embroidery and made-to measure curtain blinds to the domestic market, which is supported by a separate factory. D’Decor is now catering to 450 retailers in India and expects a steady growth rate each year.  

D’Décor has installed a new product range in 100 % cotton fabrics with special finishing done internally. ‘These finishing machines provide soft and luxury touches. These brushed fabric collections are in good demand in the US, Europe and India too. We are looking to earn a good share in this segment,’ Sanjay said.

Along with their first expansion into retailing their products, D’Décor owners said they expect to reduce fabric production lead-times from six weeks to two weeks beginning in April 2015 to further accelerate sales and reduce inventories.

The pair expects these two activities to boost sales of the parent company in excess of $250 million in 2015 and 10-15 percent growth is targeted over the next five years. (Fabrics & Furnishings International named D’Décor the largest mill in the world by sales volume in the autumn, 2014 issue)

D’Décor’s $250 million plus sales level is especially significant when one considers it only began operating in 1999 with an $8 million turnover. ‘We acknowledge and thank the support extended by our customers and the decorative fabrics fraternity as a whole ’, Ajay and Sanjay say.

‘In the last 12 years we have earned the customers and are now are in the process of implementing the biggest task that we have taken in the reduction of the delivery period to two weeks instead of current 4-six weeks’, Ajay said. (Incidentally, the Turkish companies are able to deliver the merchandise to the European market within six to 10 days and this fact is certainly motivating D’Décor to improve its deliveries.)  

To prepare for the reduced lead-times, D’Decor anticipates substantial changes in its mill operations. Faster delivery and an improvement in services means an increase in inventory levels, increased man power that would contribute to increased prices too. ‘Yes, but the inventory levels at our customer’s warehouse would also reduce proportionately though frequency of ordering may increase’, answered Ajay. ‘Though the capacity utilization is between 80-120% now, the aim is to reduce the utilization a bit by adding more value fabrics’, he added. 

D’Decor’s Current weaving capacity is 1, 20,000 meters a day and is consistently adding 10 % capacity each year.  Delivering sheer to velvets, digital prints to a wide range of embroidered fabric collections in the home textile segment, D’Decor feels there is no reason to complain on the market conditions now unlike in 2008 when the recession hit one and all. 

‘The global decorative fabrics market has started looking positive and our efforts to increase the market share have produced positive results and this remains a constant goal.’