Gorgeous but not gothic. Rather soft and curvaceous. It doesn't have the sharp-edged, straight line looks of modern design. It does not even use the moulded technology. Hurtado furniture from Spain is for inheritance down the generations. The Hurtado Muebles Decoracion, SA-Spain's leading designer furniture manufacturing company-has been recently brought into India by Ms Aruna Tara. "However, right now we don't have any showrooms or retail outlets except one in Mumbai," says Ms Shefali Aswani, who is looking after the north Indian market for Hurtado furniture. She adds, "It is market testing time now for us and we are trying to gauge the market response for Hurtado furniture through invitation-based exhibitions of the furniture at different five-star hotels."If you are not the discerning connoisseur, then Hurtado furniture is not meant for you. The prices of Hurtado furniture is also on the higher side.
For example, a centre coffee table may cost you as high as Rs 35,000. And a dinning table or an office table can cost you between Rs 4-Rs 5 lakh.
"We are targeting the top niche customers who can afford and admire Hurtado furniture," says Ms Aswani. To ensure this, they neither take the exhibition to commonplace centres nor do they have plans to display Hurtado furniture at any retail outlet. "For some more time, we shall sell the furniture through invitation-based exhibitions and catalogue buying," Ms Aswani explains.
Elaborating on target customers, Ms Aswani says that they are looking primarily at middle aged and young professionals who have made enough money to spare. "Hurtado furniture is not like moulded furniture, which you can use for a maximum of one generation. It's made of precious wood like pitch, walnut, oak, etc. Some furniture is also made of two or more different kinds of wood. This gives the furniture an entirely different and exotic look, texture and feel, which other companies cannot give to their products."
The Hurtado furniture range unveiled in India is available under different collections. The Amadeus collection brings in the art of fine marquetry and curvaceous patterns. The Artemis collection consists of mainly bedroom furnishings made of walnut with ash-root inlays. The Albeniz collection comprises desks, bookshelf, etc. Under the Occasional Furniture collection, you can get the extensive range of stuff like chairs, tables, tea carts, music stands, etc. If you want more, peep into www.Hurtadoindia.com. You can place an order here, too. Or, wait till March 20001 if you are based in Delhi. "Around April next year, we will come up with another exhibition in Delhi," says Ms Aswani.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.