Tana Bana, A Small Town Brand For Hand Woven Products

Bhagalpur, comparatively a small town located in Bihar, India has been long famous for its exquisite silk & hand woven products. Located on sacred Ganga , employs more than a lac people in it’s silk industry. For generations, weavers are weaving magic with silk yarns especially tussar( tusseh). There are more than hundred small & medium organizations involved in this industry.

The growth and success story of FabIndia is lending a hand of inspiration to several producers of handloom products in the country, to explore avenues for direct retailing to their customers.

“We are trying to create a platform which has a direct access to retail market slowly as we believed that if artisans and weavers were to be provided more regular work, it was important for organizations like ours to break from the dependence on larger organizations for job work,” says Vikash K Pathak, Founder, Tana Bana, a supplier to FabIndia.

Started in 2009, Tana Bana meaning warp & weft is create a unique structure which give first ever opportunity of regional artisans, weavers, promoters, employees and investors in Bhagalpur Bihar. Working with weavers, Tana Bana focuses on value addition and overtime, intends to create a viable online platform to sell handicraft products directly to retail customers.

Catering to a clientele ranging from FabIndia to other small retailers, Tana Bana produces silk and hand woven products such as silk sarees, stoles, duppattas, kurtas and fabrics made of Bhagalpur silk. They have also started selling their products through SEWA in Ahmedabad and a few other stores under their own brand name – Tana Bana. With good response from the retail outlets and increase in the number of queries through Facebook and website, the brand is also looking to explore online retailing in a big way. Interestingly, so far, Tana Bana is the only organization in Bihar & Jharkhand that offers cash-on-delivery to customers. Most of their sales happen through Facebook with customers mailing them the product codes and they ship them products based on cash-on-delivery.

With sustainability at the heart of their business, Tana Bana works carefully with the craftsmen to build a self-sustaining group by supporting them with design, classes, Skill Developmnet, credit and such as them as stakeholders in the organization. Furthermore, Tana Bana plans to set up official and casual categories where weavers, craftsmen and women could become members allowing a collective decision making process on their wages, pricing etc as a protective measure against individual exploitation.

Thought Vikash founded Tana Bana, Sujit Kumar Jha has recently joined them as CEO, to clearly avoid the dependency of the organization on one person and place it in the hands of the community. “I am trying to make sure that the dependence on me is also reduced over a period of time. There cannot be a better feeling than to see an organization which you create, stand on its own feet and doesn’t depend on you anymore,” says Vikash.

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Tana Bana’s promotion attempts are different concentrating on both off-line and on the internet programs. They perform with other businesses like FabIndia for volume purchases. They also associates with off-line suppliers apart from on the internet sales and events. Going forward our primary focus will be on internet promotion & developing a foundation for providing along various handcrafts products from manufacturers directly

Like itshandmade, Aporv, Kraftinn (North Southern handicraft) and others before them, Tana Bana is also advancing towards developing a industry for handmade items manufacturers from across the country with a perspective to make a specific brand that symbolizes the crafts of Indian. “At the same period of time our volume growth company will stayed targeted on and cotton & weaving element will stay primary to our perform,” says Vikash.

The ecommerce boom has definitely had its effect on manufacturers who are now thinking on exploring the option of ecommerce for a constant inflow of income as retailers even during off-season. This is likely to add to the quality of life of the artisan community by providing them with work and income throughout the year. But this will only be an arrangement that supplements the main offline business for the bulk orders from other avenues. The road ahead is one that will be a combination of brick and click with one leg in the online space and the other in offline. Get More Information about visti tanabanacrafts.com