The East India Company, synonymous with trade and colonialism was once one of the mightiest entities in the world and is now being resurrected as a luxury brand.
Originally formed in 1600, when the company ceased trading in 1874 an obituary in The Times (which is now inscribed on a marble table in the new store) read: “It accomplished a work such as in the whole history of the human race no other company ever attempted, or is ever to attempt in the years to come.”
The company’s intellectual property rights were purchased in 2005 by Sanjiv Mehta, an Indian-born entrepreneur, who has brought the company back to life with a store on London’s Regent Street. It stocks gourmet chocolate, coffee and other exotic gifts such as Japanese mustard and biscuits flavored with sea salt and red peppercorns.
Elsewhere its “tea library” holds over 100 different types of tea, something which Mehta finds rather fitting: “There would not be tea on the tables of London but for The East India Co.” he said. “So in a way, we own this category.”
Mehta has invested over $20 million in the project and hopes one day to sell leather goods, jewellery and home interiors – plans which will take another $100 million to reach fruition.
(Source: CNN)