LUCKNOW, July 21 — A new kind of furniture retail experience has opened here, one that lets customers walk through fully staged rooms fitted with German-made hinges, sliding mechanisms and lighting systems before buying a single item. The store, called Hettich Exclusive (HeX), is the latest addition to the company’s expanding network in India, and it points to a shift in how Indians shop for interior solutions.
Rahul Thakkar, Director – Sales at Hettich India, said the company chose Lucknow because it sees a “growing demand for high-quality interior solutions” in the city. The HeX store is designed to bring the company’s range of furniture fittings and interior components closer to customers, but the experience goes beyond simple browsing.
Visitors can take curated walkthroughs of contemporary furniture that integrates advanced fittings, architectural door hardware, furniture lighting, and built-in kitchen appliances — all in one space.
How the store works
The idea is not just to display products, but to show how they function together in a real-world setting. A customer can see, for instance, how soft-close drawer runners work inside a kitchen cabinet, or how a wardrobe’s internal lighting can be triggered by opening the door. The store also offers Hettich’s complimentary Design Services, which help customers plan and visualise their own interiors before making a purchase.
This approach — what the company calls a “comprehensive solution-shopping experience” — aims to take buyers from concept to completion under one roof. For Hettich, which has traditionally supplied components to manufacturers and carpenters, the HeX network represents a push into direct retail.
Strategic retail expansion
Thakkar explained that the Lucknow opening is part of a broader strategy to strengthen Hettich’s retail presence in key Indian cities. The company has been steadily rolling out HeX stores across the country, each designed to give customers hands-on access to the German engineering that underpins its products. The timing is intriguing.
As more Indian households invest in modular kitchens, custom wardrobes and home offices, the demand for reliable, high‑quality fittings has grown. Hettich’s bet is that customers will pay for the assurance of seeing how a mechanism works before committing to it.
What researchers in the furniture fittings field have long known is that the quality of moving parts — hinges, slides, brackets — often determines how long a piece of furniture lasts. The HeX store makes that science visible. Thakkar, who oversees the expansion of the HeX network and delivery of Hettich’s products and services across the country, described the Lucknow store as “a significant step” in the company’s goal.
No timeline for further store openings was provided, but the pattern suggests more Indian cities will see similar outlets in the coming months. For now, Lucknow residents can explore a space that blends German engineering with local shopping habits — and perhaps decide for themselves whether a smart hinge is worth the upgrade.
