Global franchise stores –the next step for Jharcraft

27 Aug '12

3 min read

There is a huge demand for Indian handloom products and handicrafts in the global market and several government-supported organizations, who are working in close association with the weavers and artisans from the backward areas of the country, are trying to promote the products through various international platforms, including setting up franchise showrooms and participating in trade fairs.

One such organization is the Jharkhand Government’s undertaking- Jharkhand Silk Textile and Handicraft Development Corporation Ltd. (Jharcraft). It is entrusted with the role of implementation of the government funded schemes to promote tasar silk, handloom and handicraft of the state in the domestic and international markets.

Jharcraft is now going global in a big way. The organically-certified organization is receiving orders in bulks for its handwoven tasar silks from across the globe. In an interview with fibre2fashion, Mr. Dhirendra Kumar, MD, Jharcraft, confirmed, “We are exporting our products to around 10 to 12 countries in the world as on date.”

“The best thing is that we are getting repeated orders from our clients and the quantity is also increasing. This means that the acceptability of our products is increasing in the international market. We are supplying our products majorly to USA, UK, Germany, France, Australia, Italy, Turkey and Sweden,” he says.

Additionally, he reveals, “The discussions for opening franchise showrooms abroad are going on since the last one year. Some people are trying to put up franchise shops in USA and UK, and also many of our buyers wish to open stores in Italy, Turkey and Istanbul. There are some offers coming from a group in Morocco as well.”

However, he quickly adds that discussions to open franchise showrooms in different parts of the world are still at a very preliminary stage, and nothing concrete has been finalized as yet.

But an optimist Mr. Kumar quips, “May be in the near future we would be able to sign some agreements and set up few franchise stores abroad.”

Mr. Kumar spoke on the measures adopted by the organization for meeting the rising demand of their increasingly becoming popular products worldwide, “We understand that when the popularity of the products increases, we have to gear up our production at the same time maintaining our quality, prices and various other aspects. Around 225,000 people are associated with us, hence increasing the production has never been an issue.”

“We have organized nearly 1 million women into 50,000 groups and have started training them for systematic production. Another 1million people will be joining us in the next 2 to 3 years. So, we have our roadmap ready for the next 5 years,” he states.

Mr. Kumar concludes, “Today we are a Rs. 1-billion company and we look forward to becoming a Rs. 100-billion company in the next 5 years.”

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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