The home retail segment, previously one of the hardest hit by economic downturns, is experiencing a gradual resurgence as stability returns to the housing market. Sales had plummeted by 15-25% during the slowdown, but now the sector is witnessing a revival, coinciding with optimistic market signs.
Prominent players in this arena—Future Group, Godrej Interio, Welspun Retail, and HomeStop—are expressing optimism about sustaining this upward trend, especially with the festive season fast approaching.
Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO of the Retailers Association of India, affirms this recovery. He noted, “With the housing sector slump, home sections of retailers found themselves in big trouble. But now that there are signs of a recovery in the housing market, home retail is also picking up. Both hard and soft furnishings have shown an increase in sales of anything between 10-15 percent over the past quarter. This segment had seen sales decline by 20 percent.”
The revival is also being felt at Godrej & Boyce, which operates around 50 ‘Interio’ furniture stores. Senior GM of the home business, Mr. Subodh Mehta, stated, “While some home retailers may have been downtrading by giving massive discounts, we restricted ourselves to normal promotion. Even though sales are yet to reach the 30-35 percent growth rate as in the pre-slowdown days, it is still growing at a double-digit rate.”
Similar sentiments are echoed at HomeStop, a home concept format under Shopper’s Stop. Govind Shrikhande, executive director and CEO, noted, “Though we did not experience a steep decline in sales, our expectations are that sales will again reach their peak in the last quarter.”
However, Future Group, one of the largest home retail businesses with stores such as Home Town, Collection-I, and Furniture Bazaar, has struggled significantly, registering a negative same-store sales growth since the slowdown began. They reported a 10% drop in same-store sales until March, which further nosedived to 28% in April and May, and 34% in June. Nevertheless, group officials believe that the decline in sales has finally bottomed out as of last month.