Nitco Tiles mulls setting up manufacturing unit in Gujarat

Coimbatore: Nitco Tiles has inaugurated its Le Studio showroom at Ramnagar in Coimbatore. Spread over 3,400 sq ft, this is the company’s third showroom in the country, the other two being located at Mumbai and Kolkata.

The company plans to open 12 more Le Studio showrooms soon.

Addressing media persons here on Monday, its Vice-President (Sales), Mr Pervez Amin, said though the company’s products would be displayed at Le Studio where the customer can make his choice, the sale would be routed through the dealer network.

On the need for opening such a store, he said, “The range is huge. The customer would actually enjoy the touch, appearance and feel as the showroom would provide a one-stop display for Nitco’s product offerings such as ceramic tiles, vitrified tiles, imported marbles and mosaico.’

“In fact, the showroom in Mumbai has helped trigger our sales volume. It has grown by more than 20 per cent.”

The company has an established network of 550 dealers and 5,000-plus sub-dealers across the country. “We are in the process of giving a facelift to our dealer-network showrooms too. About 30 would be ready by April. We will do these in a phased manner to reach 150 by the end of next year,” Mr Amin said.

On production, he said Nitco has two dedicated manufacturing units in China for manufacturing vitrified tiles. “We are contemplating starting a similar venture in Gujarat soon,” he said, but maintained that the process was still in the conceptual stage.

The company also plans to expand its ceramic tiles manufacturing facility at Alibaug in Maharashtra from the present 4 lakh sq metre/month to 7 lakh sq metre/month. The investment on this expansion is estimated at over Rs 50 crore.

Stating that refurbishing and showroom launch efforts are aimed at doubling its market share, Mr Amin said Nitco’s ceramic tiles enjoy a 12 per cent market share, while the vitrified tiles are slightly higher at 16 per cent.