The joint venture is in no hurry and will expand its dealer network selectively, focusing mainly on exclusive showrooms at premium locations in metros and tier-I cities

Having forayed into the Indian market September last year, Fima Carlo Frattini, the Italian bath fittings manufacturer, is looking to strengthen its network. Unlike some of the other European companies which have entered the market under a distribution agreement with existing players, Fima has shown greater commitment by signing a JV agreement with Mohali-based bath fittings supplier JAL. The company has also opened up its sales office in Chandigarh. This new entity – Fima Jal Faucets Pvt Ltd – will bring premium designer collections of bath fittings to Indian consumers.

Commenting on the development, Aman Anand (aman.anand@fimacf.in), director of Fima Jal, told Sourcing Hardware, “We have started operations from September 2015. We will be importing all the ranges from Italy and will store in our warehouse in Chandigarh. Additionally, this branch will also perform the assembly steps of the products made in Italy that will be marketed and distributed in India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.” He further said that the product ranges – faucets, showers and washbasins – would cater to the premium and the luxury segments.

On the marketing initiatives and product promotion, he shared, “We are participating in leading tradeshows besides organising architect meets and various other BTL activities. Our focus is on having exclusive showrooms that will showcase all the ranges. Since this is a high-end brand, the location and size of the showroom has to be suitable. For example, in Delhi we have a 1200sft showroom in GK-II market.”

He further shared that the company has got four dealers on board – one each in Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. “Soon we will also be in the north-east region and Rajasthan. First of all, we are not targeting too many dealers. We want to keep it exclusive. We are positioning this brand as a very high-end one, so we don’t want to dilute brand value by increasing presence in every nook and corner. As far as expansion is concerned we are looking at the metro cities and tier-I cities.”

Andrea Frattini, general manager, Fima Carlo Frattini, is upbeat about the company’s future in India. “Going by the enquiries and the response we have got from exhibitions, we see a growing interest among architects and end-users for Italian bath fitting ranges. We see a good prospect for our company in the Indian market.”

Frattini emphasised that the presence of the marketing office will help in providing after-sales services. Sharing the details of future plans and the kind of network the company wants to put in place over next five years, he informed, “In 2017, we will focus more on building our south and central India market. Our target is to have about 15 dealers in the country which will give us a pan-India presence in the next one year. At the moment, we are only focusing on exclusive showrooms. In the next five years, we want to have approximately 50-60 dealers.”

Mrinmoy Dey