Stanley Seating mulls overseas foray

Plans to open furniture boutiques in Dubai, Singapore & Colombo

Stanley Seating, a Rs 50-crore leather upholstery company, is looking at entering foreign markets like Dubai, Singapore and Colombo through its furniture boutiques.

The Bangalore-based company, which opened its boutique in Hyderabad recently, is now contemplating expanding its retail presence to Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune as well.

Stanley Seating's product range includes custom-styled car and aircraft interiors, sofas, chairs and other seating products. The company has two manufacturing plants in Bangalore and is looking at setting up a third one in Delhi at an investment of Rs 1.5 crore.

Speaking to Business Standard, Sunil Suresh, founder and chief executive officer of Stanley Seating, said, "We are currently trial marketing our products in Dubai, Singapore and Colombo. In the next financial year, we intend to set up our retail presence in the aforesaid locations." In India, the company has a retail presence in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Hyderabad.

"We will also be setting up a new plant in Delhi by February 2006 at an investment of Rs 1.5 crore. The new plant will be funded from internal accruals and around 75 people will be employed," Suresh said. The company currently has an employee-strength of 490.

Stanley Seating is the sole licensee for US-based La-Z-Boy in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. "We plan to tie up with some European brands also, on similar lines," Suresh said.

Among the automobile companies, Stanley Seating has a clientele that includes General Motors, Ford, Mitsubishi and Mahindra & Mahindra.

"Our products have also been sampled for use in Mercedes Benz and Skoda," he added. The company is also looking at entering the high-end ladies bags segment in future and is targeting to end this year with a turnover of Rs 60 crore.