Neelkamal Group of Companies started their operations in 1975 at Dubai basically as a wholesaler and retail trader in textile goods.

Soon with concerted hard work & efficient business skills the Group expanded and by the year 1982 was already having twelve wholesale and retail outlets. The "Neelkamal" brand was thus built around the hallmarks of Quality and Innovation. Today, the Group is well known not only in UAE, but also throughout the GCC countries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman and beyond. In 1988, the NK Group diversified into Garment Manufacturing with the setting up of a production facility in Jebel Ali Free Zone. The factory was later shifted to the Emirate of Ajman in 1991. Soon thereafter expansion in its Garment Manufacturing operations saw the number of factories increasing to three in Ajman and one each in Bahrain & Mombasa, not to mention the sixth factory at Nairobi, set up under JV partnership.

Entry into the garment manufacturing supported the creation of a Fashion Design group, which has established itself under the name & style of "Fashqua". It has made an independent business foray into American and European markets, apart from supporting and supplementing the operations of garment factories. The Group has a Textile Indenting Division also located at Dubai with branch operations in China & Indonesia. The Group's rich experience in the field of Textiles trade over the last three decades has been thoughtfully leveraged into forming the Textile Indenting Division, which serves as a clearing house between the Textile Trade of UAE with the various Textiles production centers of the world As a natural expansion from textiles, garment manufacturing and to fashion design, the Neelkamal Group operations extended to Apparel Retail business, by securing franchise rights for well-known American and European Apparel Brands with retail outlets set up in major shopping malls. Today we have our retail outlets chain in Dubai, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Muscat. Our expansion plans include Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Doha & Jordan. The Brands actively represented by the Group include Jimmy Key with the quest for bringing many more premium brands being very active. Besides the vertically integrated business activities of Textiles, Garment Manufacturing & Apparel Retailing, the Neelkamal Group's activities extend to other area as Real Estate.

Apart from the Corporate Headquarters in Dubai, the Neelkamal Group has overseas offices in Bahrain, Muscat, Mombasa, Moscow, Poland, China & India.

Nilkamal group's latest venture Priyanka Joshi in New Delhi | October 14, 2005 12:46 IST A chance visit by its senior management to a knockdown furniture factory in Thailand was all it took for Nilkamal Plastics Ltd to venture into an entirely new business: importing particle board furniture from south east Asia. The continent's largest moulded plastic furniture maker has even set up a separate business division, @Home, for this new venture, which will see it compete with established players like Durian and Style Spa for a share of the Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.5 billion) branded furniture market. In July this year, @Home opened its first retail outlet, a 14,500 sq ft showroom in Pune. Two stores in Mumbai and one in Ahmedabad will come up in October. Next in line are cities like Delhi, Nashik, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The group plans to open stores in about 25 locations in major cities and simultaneously set up over 40 franchisee operations in smaller towns over the next few years. Those are big plans for a business that is still to prove itself. But Hiten Parekh, executive director, NPL, feels the retail venture is just the precursor to the group setting up a manufacturing base in India for particle board furniture. Each store is being set up at an investment of Rs 1.5 crore (Rs 15 million) and NPL is aiming to earn Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million) this year from the seven stores that will be operational by March 2006. Says Sharad Parekh, MD, NPL, "The customers have appreciated our productline and prices. The footfalls have been healthy with conversion rates at 40 per cent."

The company has spent about Rs 1.5 crore on outdoor and print ads; the spends are likely to increase as they expand. The stores are being promoted as complete home solutions destinations. In-house interior designers and 3-D imaging software will help customers select furniture. Mock rooms have been designed so customers can see the "final look" of what they plan to buy. The company is sourcing most of the furniture from Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Turkey. Primarily into medium-density fibre and particle board, the stores will also stock a fair amount of rubberwood and glass pieces. "We are pitching the brand at SEC A- and B+, while the prices will be aimed at SEC B," says Vaman Parekh chairman, NPL. Adds Hiten: "Once we have consolidated our presence in the market, we will expand the product portfolio to include kitchen and bathroom sets too." NPL's moulded plastic business is also gearing up for growth. New, value-added products are being readied for launch later this year. NPL's moulded furniture division is ready with 12 Nilkamal Home Ideas stores set up on a shared expenditure basis with its distributors. 7333: The Latest News on Your Mobile!