Walk in to the MO store and it looks like any other lifestyle store. With ample display area and sleek furniture, home accessories, clothes and so on, the store is appealing to the urban homes it wishes to decorate. But MO has a story behind it that none of the other places do. Previously known as Maya Organic, MO may have products similar to that of other stores but it’s how they are made and who makes them that sets this store apart.
The store is part of the social venture company Maya Organic India Pvt Ltd (MOIPL) and it is the brand and the face of the company. MO sources all its materials from informal sector groups in co-operatives, self-help groups, producer companies and independent micro-entrepreneurs. But they work mainly with their NGO Maya.
Sharath K of Maya explains, “We help informal sector groups with their work and then MO buys these products from them. The problem we face is that a lot of the our arts are becoming obsolete and this is because the artisans have problems with quality and the products are not appealing to the urban buyers. So we tackled design and quality through Maya which provides the infrastructure and raw material at a very minimal rate. So this isn’t charity.”
So one can pick up a fashionable kurta made by a women’s self-help group in Gottigere (on Bannerghatta Road) or pick up a cute bunk bed which is made in a workshop in J P Nagar.
“For example, our toys come from Channapatna. As part of Maya, we have worked with the artisans there and trained them to come up with new designs by enabling interaction with our designers. Most of what we make goes back to the workers' community — in enhancing incomes, improving skills and education of the workers and their families and of course to create wealth in the local communities,” says Sharath.
MO has also started exporting its wares across the world. As of now, they work primarily with Maya but as they are eager to work with other NGOs or self-help groups, they are open to other groups approaching them.
The store has furniture for the entire home. Their sleek range is comparable to any lifestyle furniture brand in the City featuring beds, sofas, dining tables, coffee tables, chairs, shelves and much more apart from furnishings. A range of clothing for men, women and children and a small collection of lifestyle products is also part of the collection. The store, that  has ample display space that is ideal for customers to shop in leisure and promises to be easy on the pocket.
So if you want to pick up a side table for that empty corner in your house and feel good that the money you have spent is being used productively, walk in to MO.
 The store is on Bannerghatta Road, near the Jayadeva Flyover, opp Shoppers Stop.