Guwahati, Nov. 4: Encouraged by the growing demand for flowers, leading floral boutique and gifting solutions chain Ferns N Petals (FNP) is expanding its footprint in the Northeast with a plan to add six more outlets in the region this fiscal.
The floral retail chain launched its first store in Nagaland, the fifth in the region, on Friday.
"We launched a 250 square feet exquisite boutique in Dimapur which is unanimous with the company's other stores across the country. Given the encouraging response from our outlets in the Northeast, we are planning to open five more stores - in Shillong, Gangtok, Aizawl, Kohima and Itanagar - by March next year," said Anil Sharma, vice-president (retail and franchise), Ferns N Petals.
Since its inception in 1994, the company has established a network of 200 retail stores across the metros and the tier-I and II markets in the country. In the Northeast, FNP also has two outlets in Guwahati and one each in Agartala and Imphal.
"The cities that have higher demand for flowers in the region include Guwahati, Agartala, Dimapur, Imphal and Shillong," Sharma said.
On the FNP's target customers, he said: "The retail industry is governed by the youth and 35 per cent population in the country is in the age group of 25-35 years. So our target customers are youths."
"Our dedicated team of highly experienced and creative professionals will strive to change the way people buy flowers and gifts for loved ones here. We strive to continue growing our retail as well as e-commerce ventures to make shopping easier and accessible for our customers," he said.
The floral boutiques of Ferns N Petals offer a vast variety of fresh cut flowers and unique flower arrangements, artificial and dry flowers and an exclusive range of scented candles, candle stands, imported Italian glass vases and exclusive gift accessories.
Ferns N Petals covers a retail space of 53,800 square feet across India. It operates through the franchise model. There are 972 skilled workers across the 200 outlets. FNP's flowers are sourced from Calcutta.
The company also delivers its stock across 400 cities and towns across India and around 156 countries worldwide.
"The objective of FNP is to provide Indian consumers with high quality domestic and imported exotic flowers on a par with global standards. Today, such is the demand that a bouquet is sold every five seconds by the chain in the country," he said.
According to a report by American business magazine Forbes, the flower retail industry in India is worth around Rs 2,500 crore and it is growing at a rate of 25 per cent annually.
Zopar Exports Private Ltd, a leading flower supplier in the region, also has a strong retail presence in the Northeast with 12 outlets. However, unlike the floral boutique concept of FNP, Zopar's outlets are confined to flowers.
The average demand for roses in the Northeast is about 2 lakh per month. The demand is higher between December and February. Then again, the monthly demand for varieties such as gerbera and orchids are the highest in the region at 75,000 and 50,000 respectively, industry sources said.
