Casa Milano enters the kitchen market; offers bespoke designs and smart storage options
Casa Milano has now forayed into the kitchen segment with its bespoke designs and smart storage solutions.
Starting out as a luxury sanitaryware and tiles retailer in Dubai, Casa Milano has now expanded its product & service portfolio to offer complete home solutions encompassing design and decoration of indoor as well as outdoor spaces.
The brand now showcases elegant & modular kitchen designs in collaboration with Arredo3, one of the largest kitchen manufacturers in Italy. Each of them is offered in 150 colours, customers can have a glance at several designs at the brand’s recently inaugurated Abu Dhabi showroom as well as its primer showroom in Dubai.
The kitchen showcase has its own dedicated spaces within the showrooms, its designs comprise modern, classic and, contemporary styles to masterfully blend with the design language of the properties and yet stand out in terms of its top-notch quality of the materials and meticulous craftsmanship.
The brand offers the modern styled material range in matte, gloss and high-gloss finishes while the contemporary styled materials have finishes comprising of high-resolution wooden finishes with laminates and veneers crafted from natural layers of tree bark and the classically styled material range offer a plethora of solid wood frames to choose from and vintage handles accentuate the look.
Azhar Sajan, Director, Casa Milano said: “Both full scale kitchen renovations and modest kitchen redesigns have picked up pace in the last couple of years because people are spending more time at home and have made the kitchen the heart of their homes. Home owners and designers alike wish for more aesthetic touches to the kitchens designs through various aspects. Be it installation of giant islands, fancy kitchen sinks, smart utility racks or integrated sliding cutting boards, Kitchens by Casa Milano provides all of it and much more. Not only that, built-in appliances of all large brands such as Bosch, Elba, Foster, Franke, Barraza and the likes, integrate beautifully with our products.”
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Casa Milano Turns 2! – Design Middle East
AZHAR SAJAN, DIRECTOR OF CASA MILANO, DISCUSSES THE BRAND’S TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY, LESSONS LEARNED, NEW OFFERINGS, AND AN EMPHASIS ON E-COMMERCE AND MOBILE APP
How have the last two years been for Casa Milano since its launch, especially given the changes in customer needs during the pandemic?
Casa Milano was launched in October 2019, so just as we were beginning to grasp the dynamics of the market, the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world in the month of March, and the resultant lockdowns and movement restrictions brought business activities globally to a standstill. To say the least, our sales took a hit. While the world was laying off its employees, we built our B2B team from scratch and established key relations with luxury developers across the country. Along with this we also reached out to retail customers who are our main target, as the lockdown had given them ample time to refurbish their homes which had now become their offices, classrooms etc. we distributed Hills, Dubai Hills, Meydan, Meadows to raise brand awareness. Some of our team’s first meetings with the clients happened on the Zoom platform during this period which helped us to understand the client’s needs. We also started providing complimentary design services to our customers which made them visualise their bathrooms in a different light. COVID-19 gave an opportunity to a lot of people to modify their house as they got enough time at home to think of revamping plans, which worked well in our favour.
What have you learned the most about business in the last two years, and what do you want to focus on now?
The last two years have been a roller coaster of a ride for all of us at Casa Milano. I very vividly remember my father’s words, “Son, you’ve completed the easy task of setting up the showroom and now comes the more challenging part of running it successfully.” I did not fully comprehend what he said at the time. As fate would have it, Covid struck, within 6 months of us opening the showroom. But we at Casa Milano took it up as a challenge given first of the many hurdles to be faced. What I have learnt from the past 2 years is that it is up to you how well you can turn adversities into opportunities. Now that we are 2 years old, I want to focus on expanding into other emirates starting with Abu Dhabi and to the Middle East, as well as partnering with the right brands.
You have great business acumen, where do you draw your inspiration from?
Well thank you, it’s very kind of you to say that. Coming from a business family, I have my uncle Rizwan Sajan, my father Anis Sajan as well as my elder brother Adel Sajan to look up to and I do draw some traits from all of them. However, it’s my father who is my biggest inspiration. He is very zealous about everything he does be it business or his passion for cricket. That has made him the man he is today. The core values of the family remain the same but it’s my father’s passion that I want to imbibe. My dad has also taught me that it’s really important to have a healthy relationship with all the stakeholders of my business.
How would you describe your leadership style?
I believe I am a peoples’ person. In most companies, the business heads are respected out of fear, but I want my people to respect me for who I am.
What are the brand’s latest offerings?
We started as a luxury sanitaryware and tiles brand, but I am delighted to announce that we have now also ventured into designing & beautifying outdoor spaces with bespoke landscaping & pool services and Parquet by Corà for indoor spaces. Not only that, we are going to introduce a new department for kitchen in partnership with Arredo3, Italy’s 3rd largest kitchen brand.
E-commerce and a mobile app are major investments for the company. Do you think this is the way retail will go in the future?
Most certainly. Though it may take some time for people to get used to buying home solutions products online it’s not impossible. Especially after the pandemic, customers’ point of view has changed to a great extent as they were confined to their houses, which became their office, playground etc. People would definitely move towards e-commerce in the future. We too are working on our e-commerce website and mobile app for Casa Milano, which we shall launch soon.
Could you tell us about the projects you’re working on right now in the region?
We are working with a mix of projects that includes residential, commercial and even some hotels. We have also supplied tiles to 2 pavilions at the Expo 2020. For residential projects, we supplied villas in Jumeirah, Emirates Hills, Dubai Hills, Meydan etc. We have even supplied to a couple of restaurants like CZN Burak.
Where do you see the future taking you, especially with regard to both general design and the direction of your company?
The design trends are ever-changing and we will definitely keep up with the trend in terms of our offerings. As for the company, as I mentioned before, we are working towards opening more showrooms and reaching out to more people and fulfilling their dreams of luxury.
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