Mumbai, July 11: After luxury hotels, the iconic Jaguar, branded jewellery and swish watches, the Tata group is looking to find another niche in luxury retailing — interior designs.

The group, through its subsidiary Tata Housing and Development Company, will roll out retail stores under the Casa Décor brand that will sell high-end furniture and offer related services from this quarter.

The first store will open soon in Mumbai. The retail venture — which will stock premium Italian furniture costing several lakhs apiece and offer a complete suite of interior services — will slowly expand into other metros such as New Delhi.

Casa Décor is a joint venture of the Tatas with Italian furniture designer and retailer Poltrona Frau Group.

The Italian partner collaborates with globally recognised designers such as Philippe Starck, Frank Gehry, Paolo Pininfarina, Andreé Putman, Ross Lovegrove and Peter Marino.

The luxury furniture industry is part of the $431.8-billion global furniture market. This niche segment of high-end furnishing is fragmented in terms of supply, consists largely of family-run companies and is dominated by European firms followed by entities in the US and Asia Pacific.

In India, the furniture and interior market is highly fragmented with few foreign brands in the luxury category, a favourable factor for the Tatas.

In recent years, the high-end furniture industry has been driven by the globalisation of consumer behaviour and the growing influence and increasing number of millionaires in emerging markets such as Russia, Brazil, China and India.

According to a study by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Capgemini, India had 1.27 lakh people with a net worth of more than $1 million (Rs 4.6 crore) in 2009, up from 84,000 in 2008.

Increasing disposable income and a greater brand consciousness have led to a surge in demand for these goods in India.

A report on the Tata group website said Casa Décor would target business customers such as hotels and resorts, recreational projects and even airports.

In the retail segment, households with an income of over Rs 1 crore a year will be the target customer.

Poltrona Frau Group sells to prestigious luxury brands such as Four Seasons Hotel in New York, Grand Hotel Como in Venice, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Ferragamo and Zegna.

It also manufactures customised leather upholstered interiors for luxury car makers such as Ferrari, Maserati and Bugatti, the report stated.

Besides expanding in the burgeoning luxury market, this venture will be yet another vertical in the group’s varied retail portfolio.

From hypermarkets and department stores under the Star Bazaar and Westside brands to Croma, a multi brand consumer durables retail venture with Woolworths of Australia, the group has been building up a significant presence in retail.