AKANKSHYA CHALIHA
The Hidesign store in Guwahati.
India’s premier leather brand, Hidesign, has set its sights on the Northeast
and is looking to open a factory in Guwahati.
“Though we are yet to identify the place, looking at the business prospects I
am indeed very keen on opening a factory in Guwahati,” Hidesign founder and
president Dilip Kapur said in Guwahati recently.
The company currently has three factories — one in Pondicherry and two in
Himachal Pradesh — from which the products are distributed worldwide.
The retail partner of Hidesign in the region, Design Wale, a local business
firm, is ready to go the extra mile to promote quality leather bags here.
The entrepreneurs behind Design Wale, Kangkan Chakravarty and Mehtaj Zaman
Ahmed, are optimistic about the custom factory. “It will take some time, as
these things do not happen overnight. Moreover, since we are based in Guwahati,
the factory will be opened here. But, it will happen for sure,” Chakravarty
said.
The factory is, however, not the only deal struck by Design Wale with
Hidesign. Three standalone stores in Dimapur, Gangtok and Shillong are also in
the pipeline.
“It has been only 13 months, and the Guwahati store is performing better than
our expectations. This has encouraged us to further explore the Northeast market
and open independent stores. The three chosen cities are heading towards
urbanisation, yet retain their past glory and heritage — the same concept that
drives Hidesign,” Kapur said.
The company will open its doors for the Dimapur crowd in January next year,
followed by stores in Sikkim and Shillong in a phased manner.
Barring these three, Hidesign will also have a section for themselves at the
Sohum Emporio in Guwahati. “I have already visited Sohum Emporio and checked the
space. It will take us two months to develop the store,” Kapur said.
With an annual domestic turnover of Rs 110 crore, Hidesign has 63 boutiques
across the country, with additional outlets in departmental and specialty
stores.
Despite prices being on the high side, Hidesign never fell short of what it
did best — lure people.
“When we decided to open a boutique in Guwahati, we did not conduct any
market survey like our contemporaries do. We worked on our instincts. The
Northeast is full of impulsive buyers, which gave us the confidence to open more
stores here,” Ahmed said.
