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‘Furniturewalla’
Brings
International class to Hyderabad
Hyderabad:It is all set
to give Hyderabadis the biggest thrill of their
lives with a little more than 12,000 sq feet of
prime space showcasing a curious blend of
oriental, occidental and other categories of
living room aesthetics. If you’re thinking of
doing up your place, and you happen to drop in for
some neat stuff at Furniturewalla’s latest
greatest at Laxmi Cyber Centre, Road No. 12,
Banjara Hills, you really won’t know where to
start.
A hallmark of class and variety, Furniturewalla
offers anything that you can think of under the
sun in wood, wrought iron, glass, acrylic or
anything else, to match your taste, size of living
room, etc. Furniture from every habitable
continent has been hand picked (Farhan
Furniturewala, the force behind the brand with the
same surname, does the shopping himself) to offer
visitors a wide range of choices from 18 countries
- cane, colonial classics, modern art, Spanish &
Italian designs, symmetrical & asymmetrical
furniture, minimalist styles and more. I want to
follow the Ikea model,”he says.
“A showroom with such a diverse range befits the
fastest growing city in the country” beams the
suave Farhan. So now the aesthetically inclined
Hyderabadi has a choice of a mind-boggling 43
different styles of sofa sets (each in a plethora
of shades), 60 kinds of dining sets and 100 centre
tables, each distinct from the other accessories.
“On an average a customer buys furniture about
five to six time in his lifetime; at
Furniturewalla he is likely to spot something that
he may not have seen previously. For here is a
place where he gets the very best to suit his
taste and style”, says Farhan. “The furniture in a
home must look collected, not bought. It must also
be comfortable, as it has to be practical”.
The upwardly mobile premium furniture store houses
a mixed range of furniture – dining sets in glass,
elegant sofas in leather and fabric, wood and
natural fibres, centre tables of various sizes and
designs, and a sprinkling of accessories like side
tables, CD racks, table lamps etc. Then there is
the impressive range of imported furniture and the
stunning collection of ultra modern, sleek
furniture.
“I travel extensively and personally source the
best of furniture from 18 countries says he. “Four
other designers help me check the ergonomics of
each piece. We lay great stress on design. Every
piece made at our factory in Mumbai goes through a
series of rigorous tests so as to conform to
predetermined, stringent quality benchmarks.”
Farhan also provides customised furniture from his
own manufacturing unit. A stickler for quality, he
is also very particular about his choice of wood.
For him only Burma teak, Mahogany and walnut wood
will do.
Hailing from a family that has been in the
business of furniture for a whole century, Farhan
has inherited his family’s affinity for
aesthetics. He has been travelling for the past 12
years to various parts of the world – Taiwan,
North and South America, China, Europe, and the
Far East - to attend furniture fairs and
exhibitions. And he’s been associated with big
names like Aaron Mitchell & co., a premium LA
based design organisation that has catered to the
likes of Steven Spielberg. His institutional
clientele in India boasts of a number of blue
chips and business conglomerates like the JW
Marriott group of Hotels, Hindustan Lever, Blue
Dart, Zandu Pharma, Cadbury, Hiranandani builders
and cinestars like Shilpa Shetty, Anu Malik
amongst others.
Farhan started his first store in Mumbai four
years ago, and gave it the family name -
Furniturewalla. And after the encouraging response
to his second showroom in Bangalore and the third
in Pune, Farhan has now come to Hyderabad with the
fourth mega outlet in the chain. Farhan’s outfit
is a furniture ‘super bazaar’ that offers a
greater choice to people with different tastes.
“The next stop is Delhi and then Chennai” he
grins. Eventually, Farhan is looking at 13 stores
of his own in key cities he has identified in
terms of viability. Each store will be of 1000 sq.
m. to 2000 sq. m, or even larger “ I want to built
the brand, then franchise it. I hope to see 100
branches of Furniturewalla across the globe,” he
says.
India has no corporate furniture company, says
Farhan, so obviously he all set to be the first.
Nevertheless his involvement with the business
goes miles beyond commercial consideration. He
claims: “ Furniture is my passion!”
-MK
September'03
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