Design-led Lifestyle Brand Chumbak Targets 50 Stores By Fy19

Chumbak– with a USP of product assortment entirely created on fun and colorful design philosophy–retails over 100 categories through 22 stores, pan India. It also retails successfully through its web store, which has evolved into a highly interactive and fast-growing online business...

- Sandeep Kumar

When Chumbak’s founders, Shubhra Chadda and her husband Vivek Prabhakar, decided to take the plunge – leave their cushy jobs and sell their house to start a retail business – little did they know that eight years later, their quirky odds and ends business would become a brand to reckon with.

Launched in 2010, Chumbak has come a long way from its first office-cum-storeroom at the seventh floor of a rented apartment in Bengaluru. The brand started by selling collectibles and accessories. In the absence of stores, they leaned on new-age retail formats including kiosks and pop-up stores, at airports and theatres. They even dabbled in the odd niche design store.

Today, Chumbak has grown into a full-fledged lifestyle brand, which sells everything – from apparel to personal care and even home decor.

In an exclusive interview with IMAGES Retail Bureau, Vivek Prabhakar, CEO and Co-Founder, talks about the new-age kitsch brand, the factors leading to the brand’s rapid growth, why they branched out into categories, and expansion plans for FY 2018-19. Excerpts from the chat…

Tell us about Chumbak. What is your USP, what makes you different from other brands selling the same kind of products?

Chumbak was founded in 2010 as an idea for creating a range of fun souvenirs for India and Indian consumers. The idea was a simple and straight forward thought of giving something trendy and stylish to the local audience and also to offer something uniquely Indian to tourists travelling to India. It started with our love for unusual, Indian designs though little did we know what was to follow.