- Can you give us a quick brief on your brand journey?
Established in 1995, SquareFoot has become India’s trusted brand for soft flooring, with more than 90 million square feet installed. Our vision is to create the perfect integrated flooring solution. We follow two simple ethos – Quality and Innovation. We have a presence in 65 cities in India. SquareFoot caters to many industries and segments, from homes, offices, hotels, clubhouses, and outdoor areas to specialized products for healthcare and industries. We provide a wide range of colours, patterns, quality standards and price points. We also partner with Tarkett, Desso, Boen and other world leaders to bring design and quality flooring products to the Indian market.
- What are the latest flooring solutions for commercial spaces?
Innovation and technology have given rise to modern commercial flooring solutions. The latest flooring solutions include luxury vinyl tile (LVT) and linoleum, which brings life to the space with contemporary colours, designs, and textures. This enables flooring that can truly reflect the brand image. At the same time, these floors are resilient to heavy traffic and eco-friendly, which provides long-term functionality.
- How can technology and design be intertwined within flooring designs?
Product performance, cost, installation, and environmental sustainability drive innovation in the market. Another fundamental demand of the customers is design, which is about not only the visual appeal but also design foundation, tangibility, and flexibility. Hence, manufacturers invent new ways to incorporate convenience and urbanity in flooring designs. For instance, SquareFoot’s design-wood flooring solutions, powered by technology, make them highly sustainable and easy to install while also giving a great degree of customization.
- Are there any new office flooring trends that you swear by?
One can get creative with office flooring. Using patterns to create visually appealing floorboards would greatly contribute to the overall aesthetics and purpose of the office. Resilient flooring will replace traditional flooring in workspaces. Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) flooring is the most widely used kind of resilient flooring. Their Superior comfort and noise control shall propel their demand in multi-storey buildings in the near future. Another trend in offices will be flooring with high Indoor air quality standards.
- What are the various sustainable initiatives taken by your brand?
Sustainability is very important to us. About 70% of our wood flooring is PEFC/ FSC certified (forest compliant). All our vinyl flooring, LVT and carpets are LEED (rating for green building). SquareFoot and our carpet partner Desso, follow cradle-to-cradle principles where manufacturing waste is not added to landfills, but recycled (100%). Today we have an Ecovadis-certified plant in India where old carpet tiles are recycled as well.
- In your opinion, what is the future of workspaces?
The workplace culture is very dynamic. Flooring requirements vary considerably in meeting rooms, general workplaces, cafeterias and fitness zones. Flooring as a part of the workspace environment can motivate employee productivity. Sustainability and indoor air quality would be the future of the workspaces. Product decisions would be made keeping this in mind. Many businesses have realized that they need to offer flooring solutions with practical functionality, low vulnerability to moisture and resilience to heavy foot traffic.
- What are the company’s further plans?
We are currently increasing our footprint in India. We will open 4 new stores in the next 18 months and are currently increasing our dealer base in Tier II and Tier III cities. We hope to be able to reach sales of 10 million sqft/ year in the next 24 months.