Bed linen and home textiles. We are building a business with Turkey
Natalya Gerasimchuk, Director of Home Comfort – on how to build a business selling luxury textiles.I had the idea to build my own home textile business three years ago. It was very difficult to choose suppliers, because there are a lot of textile brands. It was originally planned to work with the elite segment, offering beautiful linens with an exclusive design of the highest quality fabrics. First of all, the options of import from Turkey, the world leader in the textile industry, which has proven itself in the Ukrainian market, were considered. We studied offers from well-known manufacturers, but their products lacked the uniqueness, the “highlight”. In addition, market giants dictated their terms of cooperation, often unprofitable for young businesses.
I met our Turkish partners by chance. Once, while on holiday in Turkey, I was interested in a new textile brand Gul Guler store. As a woman and a hostess, I drew attention to the truly exclusive design, which was not like any of the Turkish brands. As I learned later, French and Italian artists are working on prints, and the founder of the company chooses lace in Europe.
When I saw that the size of the sheets in bed sets is 275×275 cm, I understood: this is what I need – such a sheet will not be crumpled during sleep, even on a large bed with a high mattress. This could be a strong competitive advantage, as other manufacturers have saved on bed sheets.
The brand offered an original solution for the design of the whole house: here you could buy a bathrobe, towels, bed linen, a bedspread and even slippers in the same color and with the same lace. The bedding was made of high-quality satin, soft and smooth as silk. I have no doubt: you need to cooperate with Gul Guler.
This manufacturer was not represented in Ukraine, and I wanted to introduce our consumers to it. We decided to work on an exclusive dealer system. Having concluded the contract, our company Home Comfort became the official representative of the manufacturer Gul Guler in Ukraine.
Working with a new brand, unknown to consumers, was very difficult, but at the same time, interesting. We participated in specialized textile exhibitions to attract the attention of retailers and online stores to our products. This idea was crowned with success, and over time we formed a network of partners who were engaged in the sale of Gul Guler products.
In parallel, we developed our own retail store. Taking over the experience of foreign colleagues, we managed to create a store with a special atmosphere of tenderness and classic sophistication. Following the current trends, we launched our corporate online store www.home-comfort.kiev.ua. Since I first started my own business, I had to learn a lot. Developing the Home Comfort store in the elite segment, it was necessary to pay much attention to the service. Today, we offer free delivery to any point in Ukraine, we help clients select and pack gifts, deliver goods to choose from, are always ready to advise clients and meet them.
In the future, we plan to follow the same strategy, choosing exclusive products of the highest quality and presenting them to Ukrainian consumers. We are currently working on expanding the range of home decor, following the wishes of our regular customers.
