Mora Taara – Brand Story
Mora Taara: Alice Munroe, a fine writer, once wrote in her book ‘Carried Away’. “Some people open a shop just to make a living. While others do so with the hope of being among things they most value. These are the shops that will become a part of the block. A part of the street, part of everybody’s map of the town, and eventually of everybody’s memories.”
That is exactly what Mora Taara aspires to become – a part of your personal map.
Mora Taara, a beautiful name that invokes images of a warm, lovely home, filled with unique travel finds and surprises. Founded in 2005 by Anu Kumar, Mora Taara means ‘my star’ in Hindi. It is named after Anu’s grandmother Tara who used to live in a small village in Rajasthan. The time spent in the village shaped her belief that beauty is the default mode of life.
With an ever-growing collection, Mora Taara is the new destination for delightful and inspirational objet d’art. It is a beautifully curated space that not just sells products but also imparts ideas and inspirations. The store manages four broad categories: decor, serving ware, gifting (both personal and Business purposes) and fashion.
I love the fact that Mora Taara stores collections that are very diverse & global in nature. From fine furnishings, glorious art prints to unique curios, precious ceramics and home decor accessories – at Mora Taara one can find a space that brings under one roof all these tastefully select products. You can find Mora Taara stores in Gurgaon and Mumbai.
Here’s an excerpt of our conversation with Anu Kumar, Founder “Mora Taara”
Once upon a time…
there was a little girl who was mesmerized with stores. Whether it was the little marble shop lined with thick glass jars or the Banarasi paan-waala perched up in his stall with gleaming brass vessels, green leaves arranged in a round thaali just so, a perfect handlebar mustache and a bright welcome that was as important as the paan itself, or any other store that she came across that had heart and spirit.
“Ever since I was 4 or 5, I have wanted a store of my own”, says Anu Kumar, the founder of Mora Taara. “I think I was born to do this. For me, successful retail is creating spaces that are warm and welcoming, filled with products that are inspiring and thoughtfully created.”
What inspires you, motivates you? The motivation to create a certain kind of retail experience is so intrinsic in me that I don’t seem to need much external inspiration. I love my work. Running any business is extremely challenging and as an entrepreneur, your mind has to constantly evolve to meet those challenges. The retail industry has been particularly difficult in the last two years and I have actually grown to love that feeling of grappling tough circumstances and ensuring that Mora Taara remains successful through a sea of change.
What pulls me down? Every time when someone asks me, Is this your business? And I answer, “Yes”, they keep probing more, trying to find out who the man behind it really is? You can literally see them thinking…Surely, she is just the wife who is claiming it is like hers. And it is women who react like this most often actually.
What is design and how is it different from business? Or is it? Everyone who loves to design starts off with a focus on a particular product, say handbags, decor or a car…any product actually. But the natural evolution of a designer’s mind ultimately results in wanting to enhance and illuminate the entire experience around discovery, purchase, and use of that product. So a sophisticated design mind will ultimately find all aspects of business creative – whether it is workshop management, warehousing, marketing or actual design of the product itself.
Your successes? And failures? Building a brand that is recognised and evocative, of having a client base all over the world that makes it a point to visit us whenever they are in Mumbai or Gurgaon. The next step is to take it to more people. It is a particular quality of an entrepreneur that they are extremely tough on themselves. I think my biggest failure has been not being kinder to myself over the years as I learned how to run a business. Trying to learn something new while berating ourselves actually just slows us down and takes away the fun.
Being an entrepreneur is like… being a captain of a fragile boat on a large, moody ocean.
The eye-catching products showcased in this post are but just a small glimpse of the array that Mora Taara offers.
Follow them at the following links to get updated with the latest products and updates. Happy shopping! {SHOP :: FACEBOOK :: INSTAGRAM}
{All Images Copyright: Mora Taara. Storytelling: Design5 Studio with excerpts re-written from Mora Taara}
