Asian Paints opens country’s first ‘Colour Ideas’ store at Siyane Arcade, Ampara

The importance of colour in our lives has inspired Asian Paints to introduce to Sri Lanka a new-concept paint retail outlet that focuses on colour as an idea rather than a product, and seeks to impart knowledge of how to use colour as an essential prelude to a sale.

The India headquartered decorative coatings giant has chosen Ampara to locate the first of its ‘Colour Ideas’ stores in the country, and says it will redefine the way paint is sold here.

Visitors to Siyane Reality Arcade at No. 12, D S Senanayake Street, Ampara, first enter an ‘Experiential Zone’ which demonstrates to them the many facets of the interplay between colour, space and light, before they move in to a ‘Transactional Zone’ where they may purchase multiple brands of interior and exterior paints from the wide Asian Paints portfolio.

“Traditionally, a buyer of paint is confronted with stacks or shelves of product and small shade cards,” said Joseph L. Pulikottil, Asian Paints’ Director/General Manager in Sri Lanka. “The emphasis is more on the transaction than the end result. The new Colour Ideas store concept will change all that.”

There are, in fact, virtually no products on display in the new store, he disclosed. Instead, visitors are greeted with a series of coloured and textured panels and recessed displays with miniature settings depicting living, dining and bed rooms in different colour combinations and adjustable lighting.  The idea, Pulikottil explained, is to afford them an opportunity to see, feel and physically experience colour and its effects before they buy paint.

“Besides its aesthetic value, colour is believed to impact people psychologically and even neurologically,” he said. “Whether or not this is true, we know that colour certainly influences mood and outlook. That is why paint retail has to progress to a new level of sophistication.”

The store will also offer colour visualiser software that helps visitors to try out various shade combinations and effects on a computer before they decide on the colours and products they wish to buy.

Pulikottil said Asian Paints plans to open 15 such stores over the next three years.

The CEO of the store Sandun Senanayake said that customers will welcome this new concept especially because Asian Paints is already a well-known brand in the region. His 2,500 square-foot Colour Ideas store is part of a new hardware supermarket that entailed an investment of Rs. 60 million.

Asian Paints, which introduced the sophisticated automated tinting and dispensing platform ‘ColourWorld’ to paint retailers in Sri Lanka, has been responsible for many other industry firsts in the country. These include the first ‘luxury’ emulsion and the only stain – resistant interior emulsion paint, a unique exterior wall putty that evens out undulations in exterior walls and fills up minor cracks, ‘Weathertuff Ultima,’ the only exterior emulsion in the local market with a seven year warranty and ‘Royale Play,’ a unique special effects paint.