Taurus Introduces Retail Format

Exporter Goes Vertical with Address Home

By Jennifer Marks -- Home Textiles Today, 6/2/2008 12:00:00 AM

New Delhi, India —

Home textiles exporter Taurus Home is joining the parade of Indian manufacturers opening retail formats in their own country.

Taurus recently opened its flagship store called Address Home, at Raghuvanshi Mills in Mumbai. The boutique, nestled under a sprawling banyan tree, provides "luxury at affordable prices."

The product assortment includes luxury bedding, table linens, dec pillows, curtain and upholstery fabric as well as coordinating accessories such as vases, lamps, lights, serving and dining pieces, glassware, flowers and candles.

"A home isn't just a place you live in; it is a lifestyle experience. That simple belief combined with the lack of stores in India that focus on fine home linens and trendy accessories prompted us to conceptualize Address Home," said creative director Rajat Singhi, a graduate of the Wharton School of Business in the United States and a former investment banker.

Singhi comes from a family that started one of India's first home furnishing companies, designing and manufacturing linens for high-end retailers including Harrods of London and Bloomingdales in the United States. Singhi spent four years designing and manufacturing home textiles for international clients including Crate & Barrel, Z Gallerie, Neiman Marcus and Harrods before starting Address Home this year. He joined the family business in 2003.

The new collections draw inspiration from Moroccan and French textiles, with a contemporary twist. The colors are clear and sophisticated, and the looks clean and understated.

"Trendy metallics are used in small accents to complement the collections, and textures add subtle value to each bed. Black is back, and the collection pairs black with whites and silvers," according to Singhi. "Chocolate, the all-time favorite, has been used with teal and copper. Platinum and charcoal add an understated look to the collections. The summer colors, fuchsia, orange and red, are used in harmony to add a riot of color to the bed and living areas. Aqua and off-white bring in the summer season. And then there is the summer favorite — the white collection."

The collections at Address Home will change every month, while new products are introduced each week. The textiles collections will be updated each season, and offered in limited editions to ensure uniqueness.

Address Home already has an eye on rapid expansion. The Mumbai launch was followed by single-store openings in Bangalore, Kolkata, Gurgaon and two stores in Delhi in April, one in trendy Khan Market and the other at Ogaan in Hauz Khas. The next stops will be overseas, said Singhi.