The touch...royal

Run by a husband and wife team, and located in the bustling Azerbaijani city of Baku, Royal Home is a traditional retailer whose modus operandi is to provide clients with the very best in tabletop. Tableware international learns more

For luxury retail specialists Royal Home, tableware is more than a business – it’s a way of life. With two stores located in Baku, Azerbaijan, the retailer is owned and run by husband-and-wife team Sadi Atakishiyev and Nigar Atakishiyeva.

The importance of tableware was ingrained in Sadi from a young age. “My mom is a collector of tableware and we have grown up with her collecting different products for her children, she is still collecting some items for her grandchildren!” Sadi explains to Tableware International. “For her, tableware was the most important thing to unite family and friends… we wanted to return the lost tradition.”

Royal Home was established in 2006, with Sadi and Nigar wanting to present heritage brands to an eager Azerbaijani audience. Their store is Baku is designed to resemble a gallery with top-tier brands displayed as high-end art. Walking through Royal Home’s stores you are met with fully set tables showcasing entire ranges complete with glassware, cutlery, candles – any tabletop accessory a high-end client might want.

This is because – perhaps in a shift from the more casual approach to dining the US and Europe is accustomed to – Royal Home is focused on selling full dinnerware sets.

Their clients are investing.

“We present the most valuable tableware brands and its products,” Sadi explains. “We want our customers to purchase tableware in a set. For this purpose, we are always presenting different variations of whole tableware sets including porcelain, crystalware, cutlery, table cloth, accessories, decorations and candles.”

Royal Home has 15 tables set up in its flagship store and eight tables in its downtown store. “Using the pre-laid tables we give our customers an idea of how they can mix and match the goods,” Sadi adds. On top of showcasing products in-store, Royal Home also brings product to customers’ homes so they can personally select their tableware in the comfort of their own surrounds. With tabletop so central to Azerbaijani culture, Sadi tells us who Royal Home’s typical customer is. “About 70 per cent of our customers are women and 30 per cent are men. However, we have some major target groups. Firstly, families who are collecting tableware for their children or buying gifts for marriage parties. We have an old tradition, I guess it was the same before everywhere when mothers would collect tableware items for their children and present whole gifts in their homes before marriage party. As per old tradition, in Azerbaijan the men’s side must present a home and the women’s side have to fill it with items for their children’s life. So, the major target group is the ones who are collecting the dowry. Another target group is those who buys goods for themselves.The third are the collectors who collect figurines or single products like pots, or cup and saucers, or plates. And the last target group is the ones looking for a gift.”

Royal Home’s customer base is looking for long lasting luxury pieces – think limited-edition, classic décor, handmade – but with an element of practicality. This is tableware for family life in a culture which values l’art de la table.

Brands such as Meissen, Hermes, Nymphenburg, KPM (Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur), Augarten, Royal Copenhagen, Furstenberg, Raynaud, Franz, Nao/ Lladro, Vista Alegre, Portmeirion and Spode are all popular, with Sadi saying Royal Home’s clientele is looking for classic, art-deco or