Twitter
Advertisement

Retail chain seeks to make rural handicrafts contemporary

The shop is a Mother Earth retail store that sells handicrafts from all over India.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

At Mantri Square Mall in Malleswaram area of Bangalore, a 2,000 square feet shop grabs most of the eyeballs with its luxuriant riot of colours. 

While amber and ochre door hangings crafted from palm leaves lure in shoppers, red and yellow roses made from bamboo cane dazzle the right corner.

Kondapalli dolls from Andhra Pradesh sit along with Madhubani paintings from Bihar adorning the left corner.

The centre is again a sparkle of colours where bright green, blue, red, yellow and orange hued Channapatna toys from Karnataka such as cars, tops, rattles, trains made from wood and vegetable dyes jostle for attention.

A rack holding pink and mustard coloured letter boxes, file holders, table mats and floor mats weaved and crafted from river grass, banana fibre and screw pine brings keep the rear end resplendent.

This bright fare is interspersed with perfumed candles, room fresheners, scented soaps and home accessories such as lamp shades and vases.

The shop is a Mother Earth retail store that sells handicrafts from all over India.

“The products have been crafted by artisans from remote areas in India,” says Neelam Chhiber, managing director of Industree Crafts, a social enterprise in Bangalore, who started the firm in 1994 to provide market access to rural artisans, including micro-entrepreneurs and self-help groups.

Industree runs eight stores under the Mother Earth brand in Bangalore, Mumbai, Mysore, Kolkata and New Delhi, selling products categorised as Earth food, Earth fashion (clothing and accessories) and Earth home (souvenirs and furniture). Several products are made using natural fibres such as banana, screw pine, bamboo, river grass, jute, etc.

Chhiber says her company is aiming to achieve a turnover of Rs16 crore by this fiscal, with a target of touching Rs100 crore in sales by March 2015, by when it will add 12 more stores. Her venture has received funding from Future Venture and Grassroots Business Fund in the recent past.

“We currently reach 10,000 artisans and want to reach 20,000-30,000 by 2015,” says Chhiber.

Estimates suggest India has approximately 40 million rural artisans. On the other hand, India’s handicrafts market, which is worth about `20,000 crore, constitutes 2% of the global creative industry.

Chhiber said she realised that many artisans lead a hand-to-mouth existence due to their inability to market their goods to a large consumer base at a better price while studying at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad.

“The artisans also had no idea about what an urban consumer would buy.”By selling to Industree, the artisans earn more than what they would have made by selling to buyers in their vicinity, says Chhiber.

In Virvannalur village in Tirunelvelli district in Tamil Nadu, artisans engaged in weaving mats from river grass were selling to the transport corporation at Rs40 per piece for use by the bus conductors.

“The same mats with better designs can be sold to a more discerning buyer and command a better price. We trained them to add designs and colours and make it finer. The same mat now gets sold for Rs200 a piece,” says Chhiber. Also, artisans are taught to create products from their traditional art. Chhiber says instead of selling just Kondapalli dolls as showpieces, a book or pen stand can be developed in sync with the doll and the product can command the doll’s price.

“Likewise, instead of selling Madhubani art as a painting, it can be used to create lamp shades. We teach them such techniques.”

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement