An interesting sight was unfolding in front of our eyes at the Alex Daisy store in New Delhi’s Kirti Nagar. Nine-year-old twins refused to leave a bed at the store even as their—a little-embarrassed—parents tried to talk them out of it. The girls were sceptical. They sat on a pastel pink bed that could be attached to a small wardrobe, a bed box, stairs leading to an overhead bed and shoe lofts on the sides. “What if someone else takes it away?” demanded one twin even as the other looked at the effervescent Disney wallpaper behind the bed. The store managers tried convincing them that the bed would be delivered and installed in their newly allotted bedroom as soon as they’d reach home. The twins left the store with a longing look on their faces.
“This isn’t the first-of-its-kind situation for us. In fact, we expect it from our customers. After all, it’s a kid’s furniture haven,” says Kshitij Talwar, director, Alex Daisy. Well, children these days are calling the shots. Look at the growing number of advertisements with children. Remember the case of a 13-year-old picking up a $14 million condo in New York? Children know what they want and also the ways to get it. The days of innocence might just have wound up. India, too, is a case in point. And looking at the 15 themed furniture line, we can safely say that the product designers behind the brand are on the same page.
Austrian designer Willi Beulacher and Italian designer Ettore Cira, who were roped in by the one-year-old brand, kept the Indian preference in place without going over-the-top while desiging the collection. “The soul remains European, so does the safety measures,” Talwar says. The furniture pieces, thus, have no-frills, neat designs with smooth edges and rounded corners. The scratch-resistant surface is made with a non-toxic, lead-free material for safety.
What really took our attention by the horns were vibrant shades of the furniture. Want a blue bed or a peach-coloured crib? Possible. Fancy yellow bookshelves or green study table? Available. “We don’t customize everything from scratch, but customers can have a touch and feel of the surface material and choose the colour of the product before ordering it,” Talwar says, showing us the colourful swatches that make the surface of the furniture. Small changes like adding drawers or replacing bed box with removable bed trays is entertained. Also, all the desks, tables and chairs are height-adjustable, so they grow as the kids grow. The good thing about the brand is that it doesn’t burn a hole in parents’ pockets, well not a big one for sure. The theme-bedrooms—beds, side tables, wardrobes and chairs—are priced at `90,000 onwards. Apart from the stores, the furniture are available online at FabFurnish, Pepperfry and Amazon too.
Unlike many other stores, Alex Daisy has displayed furniture according to themes in its airy store spread across two floors. It’s like walking into a home with distinctly themed rooms. “We have recently tied up with Disney to introduce a range of wallpapers and decals,” Talwar says. The brand is working on a range of India-inspired wallpapers.
The company recently set up another store at Mehrauli-Gurgaon road in Delhi and plans to launch outlets in Chandigarh, Dehradun, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad by the end of 2015.