Portrait: Satya Tiwari, Surya
Surya's strategist
Susan Dickenson -- Home Accents Today, 9/1/2009 2:00:00 AM
For more than three decades, Surya has prevailed as one of the country's top suppliers of fine hand-knotted, hand-tufted and flat-woven area rugs. Several years ago, the company began energizing its inventory with designer 
collections from new licensing partners, a roster that includes Candice Olson, Bob Mackie, B. Smith and Jill Rosenwald, and well-known brands Seventeen Magazine, Cabana Joe and The Smithsonian Collection.
According to Surya's president, Satya Tiwari, it represents quite a change from the early days when choices were far more limited. "In the late '70s and early '80s we sold one quality of rug, in two or three patterns and five or six colorways. Now, the selections are endless," Tiwari said. "We try to develop product to hit varying price points, and within each price point offer a variety of color and style trends. There also are literally hundreds of constructions of rugs being manufactured today. The retail distribution channels have grown as well — mass merchants, furniture stores, Internet, catalog, rug stores, hospitality, designers."
A Northwestern University graduate with degrees in both computer engineering and economics, Tiwari spent several years sharpening his skills in the Manhattan offices of Credit Suisse/First Boston before joining the company started in 1976 by his father, Surya Tiwari.
Since taking over as president in 2004, the younger Tiwari has focused on strengthening Surya's brand among U.S. retailers while developing a strong business model for the future. It's a model that has included investment in a talented management and marketing staff, an expansion of corporate facilities and showrooms, aggressive advertising and a stronger Web presence. It's paid off in the form of double-digit growth and accolades from the government of India's Ministry of Commerce for excellence in exporting.
"Our business has dramatically increased in the last five years and I want to ensure we continue to grow," Tiwari said. "I think we can do this by leading our industry in introducing fresh and innovative ideas that truly help our customers sell more products."
Some of that innovation has centered on the company's expansion into coordinating accessories — pillows, throws and wall art — a move based more on common sense and natural evolution than business strategy, Tiwari said.
"Our customers would come in and shop with their newest upholstery fabric, trying to match it with rugs," he said. "Then they would go to another showroom to buy pillows, throws and wall art to coordinate with the rugs. We thought by developing a comprehensive accessory program with the complete concept in mind, we could make the buyer's life easier and increase our importance with our customers."
Since first launching with pillows three years ago, Surya's accessories program has grown to include hundreds of pillows and throws, and a custom wall art program with thousands of images. "Our custom wall art program will soon have over 3,000 active images, giclee printed, with an unlimited number of size and framing options.
"We also are launching a program for our retail furniture stores where we sell them complete accessory packages that have been developed to hit key retail price points — $399, $599, etc." To help the retailer sell the packages, Tiwari added, Surya is offering a complete point-of-purchase program and new merchandising displays.
He also credits the company's employees for much of Surya's success. "I strive to hire employees who have a strong work ethic and, more importantly, creativity and intelligence that can be channeled towards the common goal of growing our business," he said.
Surya is currently exhibiting at markets in Atlanta, High Point, Las Vegas, New York and New Delhi, and despite the economic slowdown, Tiwari said the company is continuing to hold its ground. "We have had to temper our over-the-top expectations a little, but we still expect to grow this year."
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