Such eclectic “art meets function” lifestyle utilities and accessories for home and office delight the nooks and corners of a smart store called Artd’inox inside Kathmandu’s City Center at Kamal Pokhari.
Artd’inox is a pioneer in designer steel products which has the latest offerings of the Jindal Group, the Indian steel and iron company, and is franchised in Nepal’s capital city by Himalayan Route Trading Company.
Artd’inox exports its items to 28 countries. Most of the utilities and accessories on display in the store are of stainless steel, and a few are the amalgamation of steel and porcelain or glass.
“These items are manufactured from grade six steel,” informs the Sales & Marketing Manager of Himalayan Route Trading Company, Sandesh Prajapati.
“Grade six steel is used in the manufacturing of medical equipments. It’s stainless and resistant to rusting,” adds Sandesh.
Some accessories, such as the spherical teapot with a curved knob on the lid which has added zaniness to the simple-looking teapot, is found in shiny steel while other pieces, such as a penholder that also functions as a clock, are in less radiant steel.
“Keeping the different tastes of people in our mind, we have two different types of steel products on display – glossy and matt,” touts Sandesh.
Two years back, Himalayan Route imported decorative accessories and kitchenware from Artd’inox in India to enhance the décor of hotels, which the company is affiliated with.
“We brought the items for our own purposes. Then our clientele and visitors showed interest in them. So initially, we internally displayed and sold them. But later, we thought this would be a new offering for the Nepali market as well,” Sandesh further explains.
Currently, the prices of the items range from Rs. 440 for a bottle opener to a nose-wrinkling Rs.11,361 for a hammered flower vase.
“Items such as beer mugs and ice buckets have already sold out,” informs store attendant Pratima Maskey.
“During our first month of opening, 60-80% of the items were sold out,” claims Sandesh. For their practicality, coffee mugs and juice mugs are the bestselling items at the store.
“City Center itself is a new hub for people, so our sale hasn’t taken the grab that it should have,” Sandesh articulates. “But 15% of our clienteles visit us repetitively, and 50% of them comprise the groups who bought Artd’inox items in Delhi prior to the opening of this outlet in Kathmandu.”
Usually, expensive cutlery or such décor accessories occupy a special place in our homes. And so far, observing the trends in the capital, Artd’inox falls under the same special category.
“Most purchasers of Artd’inox products buy them either for decoration or as gift items,” says Sandesh. But the house and office fixtures equally seem functional despite the sense of fragility they conjure up at the first sight.
“These products can be easily washed in machine or hand-washed,” Sandesh adds, “Pieces such as beer mugs are made of two entities – glass and steel – so before cleaning, they can be separated as well.”
According to Sandesh, Artd’inox cups retain heat relatively for longer time than normal cups because of the combination of steel and porcelain.
Coming back to the collection at the store, your gaze is led up from the crookedly shaped spoons, ribbed bathroom accessories, tea cups with minimalist yet catching details such as birds and trees to coffee mugs in three different bright colors which one might confuse for brush holders due to the overwhelming ambience created by the atypical yet stylish items on offer.
Moreover, if one wants to jazz up the boring study table or add that pinch of stylish flair and edge to the kitchen, or any part of home for that matter, these accessories and wares are the ones you are in search of.
In gist, Artd’inox, through Himalayan Route Trading Company, has made Kathmandu go stainless steel again – but in much more artistic ways than ever before.
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