“Quality sleep is a basic human need and it’s everyone’s fundamental right to be able to enjoy that by accessing a range of sleep solutions. This was the concept behind ‘Beyond Sleep’,” says Satish Kumar Malhotra, Director - Sales and Marketing, VFI Group, while talking about the company’s recent foray into brick and mortar retail with its exclusive store brand ‘Beyond Sleep’. The store, located at  DLF City Center in  Gurgaon and spanning 5000 sq. ft.,  is a space that offers a curated range of global mattress brands, and has been designed to offer dedicated experience zones, enabling customers to physically test, compare, and customize their choices.

The idea, as Satish says, is to bring together all the global/premium mattress and soft furnishing brands under one roof, where the customer can pick up the right product for one of the most important human functions - sleep.

The VFI Group is an established player in the manufacture and distribution of mattresses and soft furnishings, and one of the largest exporters in this category. With its recent entry into retail, the company aims to enable direct access to a range of offerings for customer looking for first-hand feel of sleep solutions in an experiential space.

Having opened its first store, the company now plans 100 stores across India this year in the next one year, with a mix of own and Francisee run stores, and the stated aim of becoming a ₹1000 crore brand in the next three years.

Speaking about the company’s expansion plans, Satish says, “It is extremely heartening to know that as soon as we launched our first exclusive showroom we received the proposal to roll out three more stores in the next three months, each in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and New Delhi.

The company’s first store, designed by exhibition design specialists Axis Exhibitions, offers experience zones where customers can pick the choice of their brand and try out a range of products under each brand with expert assistance in a relaxed ambience.

“When we saw some stores abroad, we had a good idea of the kind of store experience we wanted to offer to our customers, in terms of the layout, ambience and design elements.Right from lighting and colour schemes, to other experiential elements, everything was thought through in detail, based on the vision we had in mind and it was discussed with our design partners,” says Satish speaking about store design concept.”

He further explains, “The entire store design process is one of continuous iteration and improvement, but it’s all worth it; and every single element matters. For example, even the kind of flooring and carpets used in a store has a big bearing on the whole experience.”

He reiterates his point by sharing a memory, and in the process conveying his passion to offer a unique store experience, “Many years ago, there was a showroom in Delhi that was the talk of the town simply because of the kind of carpets they used in the stores - one in which your feet could simply sink in! That was quite an inspiration and the idea began to take shape of creating a showroom that could be the talk of the town.”

Finally, summing up the challenges of opening a store in the country, Satish says, “Of course, launching a store comes with its own challenges with the primary one being cost. We need a minimum store space of 3,500 square feet, but today property costs all over India are really shooting up, even in tier 2-3 cities. But there are enough people with the capacity to invest, and our aim is to partner with them.” With that, Satish conveys the brand’s upbeat plans for expansion.