So, when was the last time you had stopped by any gift shop while travelling? Apparently, gifting has been more of a phenomenon of presenting or sending valuables as a mark of love or any celebration of an occasion or festival. Gone are the days when ‘Archies’ was considered to be a one stop solution for gifting cards, show pieces and wind chimes.
Today, even the concept of gifting has taken a new shape, where you think of shelling some extra pennies to gift something memorable, quirky and fashionable. And what comes to your mind when you come across all such fascinating terms? Undoubtedly, “think quirky and the name CHUMBAK pops in.’ Much to the amazement of many, the seeds of this venture have been sowed by a husband-and-wife duo, Vivek Prabhakar and Shubhra Chadda. The married duo have actually given a brand new dimension and inspiration to many such couples who feel that marriage is the beginning of monotonous lifestyles. But as they say, success doesn’t come handy to anyone, so let’s take you on a voyage to their classic journey behind their creatively crafted venture, CHUMBAK!

Spontaneous Beginnings

So, the entrepreneurial bug had hit them since the time both were working in different organizations; but had the same goal of having something of their own for which they wanted to toil hard to help it grow. As crazy as it may sound, they wanted to experiment onto building something exceptionally unusual in market and more on the creative front. One fine day, while staring at the beautifully crafted fridge magnets which the couple had brought from their foreign trips, Chadda realized that nothing of this kind has ever been available in India. Also, whenever we think of gifting something our friends and family, nothing above shawls and showpieces crawls our mind as there has indeed been a dearth of gifting products in our country since time immemorial. Talking about elements with an Indianised touch, souvenirs are the only things which hits our brain!
Shubhra comprehended this void and talked about this plan to make something beautiful, magnetic and alluring gifts, with his better half. Prabhakar had immediately fallen in love with this idea and promptly acknowledged to begin taking a shot at it. The thought appeared so great to them that without the slightest hesitation, they sold their house, worth Rs. 45 Lakhs to seed their BUSINESS and named it Chumbak (literally “kissing stones”) in 2009.

Towards Newer Horizons

The ‘Couple-preneurs’ flagged off their brand by offering souvenirs based on Indian themes. Their offerings soon grew into an assortment of products – from phone cases to jewellery boxes to laptop sleeves. Chumbak, which means “magnet” in Hindi, now spans over 100 categories from stationery and souvenirs to apparel and furniture. The organization, which has 120 representatives, operates 15 large formats and 11 pop-chic stores across Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Jaipur, Kochi and Chandigarh. The founders were caught saying it to a very renowned publication that “We are aiming to target young Indians – those who love colour and appreciate design,” says Shubhra, who heads sourcing, development and design. “Chumbak can be for anyone – a tourist visiting India for the first time, an NRI visiting on holiday, a mom buying for her house or friends buying for each other. The product offering caters to everybody.”
Further, their aim is to full-fledgedly expand in tier 2 cities and even wish to foray and make a ground over international pandemonium as well.