News: Smaller Indian retailers gear up to take on malls
(TNN 24/05/2006) Pune - The mall mania sweeping cities has hit the traditional shopping areas of most cities. Over time, though, these traditional shopping areas are hitting back, with their own snazzy premises, ready to take on the challenge of malls.
So, from a cramped, stocked-to-the-roof location, they have gone in for a complete makeover. To stand out in the clutter, some have gone for specialisation.
“We need to survive in the retail mania so we have chosen to specialise. We specialise in women’s, and young girl’s products,” noted Pramod Jain, a promoter of the family-owned Vama, a multi-storied exclusive ladies mall spread over 17,000 sq ft. In-house brands is the other aspect they are looking to develop.
While Vama is going in for HoneyBee, a brand for 2-14 year old girls, Jaihind Collections, a men’s wear shop has its own label, JC Studio, strictly for men’s ethnic wear. A major hurdle these stores face is the lack of space — a narrow frontage is what they have inherited.
Traditional wisdom mandates that to do justice, stores should be between 50-60,000 square feet space and just a women’s store, without anything for the rest of the family won’t do.
In makeover mode, stores on Laxmi Road, the traditional shopper’s paradise in Pune, do not believe in this. Having to cope with a narrow frontage, they have chosen to go vertical.
Split levels add extra space. Tathastu, another women’s mall, has about 16,000 sq ft in its four-plus ground storied building. And there is nothing cramped about it, either. Janardan Kurade, proprietor, maintained that just stocking what women want also sells.
Apart from its private label for men’s ethnic wear, Jaihind Collections was among the earliest to specialise and stock all that a man could require under one roof: from accessories like sun glasses to perfume.
Dinesh Jain, partner, Jaihind Collections noted, “In another couple of years, you can expect to see most stores on Laxmi Road have gone in for a face lift. We are all changing, in line with customers needs.”
Neither Dinesh Jain nor Pramod Jain are stopping at specialised stores, though. Having worked out private labels, the next thing is to move to the Internet although Pramod Jain accepted that it will take him time to build the label.
Another trend, important for a traditional shopping area, is that despite moving away from sarees, sales have not really dropped. That is because the saree has moved up, the value of each sale being higher, making up for any diminution in volume. “Segment-wise,
readymades and Western outfits are growing at 30-40% annually. However, the highest sale of sarees in the higher price range.
That is because of the party-wear segment, a segment which has marked the return of the saree. In this segment, the price ranges from Rs 2,500-7,000 each and we specially design sarees for this segment,” Pramod Jain observed.
The make over of the traditional shopping area has largely been driven by the second generation of the owner’s family coming into the trade, barring Mr Kurade who saw an opportunity in women’s wear, after having been in the shoe business.
Dinesh Jain remarked that their fears of a fall in sales at Laxmi Road stores would go down, following the appearance of malls and large format stores, were unfounded. Footfall and sales were not affected, he maintained.
While competing with malls on grounds of better, personalised service, the traditional stores are also learning from them. For instance, loyalty programmes and e-ordering. While ethnic men’s wear can be e-ordered, Vama will be able to offer this facility three month’s time.
So, from a cramped, stocked-to-the-roof location, they have gone in for a complete makeover. To stand out in the clutter, some have gone for specialisation.
“We need to survive in the retail mania so we have chosen to specialise. We specialise in women’s, and young girl’s products,” noted Pramod Jain, a promoter of the family-owned Vama, a multi-storied exclusive ladies mall spread over 17,000 sq ft. In-house brands is the other aspect they are looking to develop.
While Vama is going in for HoneyBee, a brand for 2-14 year old girls, Jaihind Collections, a men’s wear shop has its own label, JC Studio, strictly for men’s ethnic wear. A major hurdle these stores face is the lack of space — a narrow frontage is what they have inherited.
Traditional wisdom mandates that to do justice, stores should be between 50-60,000 square feet space and just a women’s store, without anything for the rest of the family won’t do.
In makeover mode, stores on Laxmi Road, the traditional shopper’s paradise in Pune, do not believe in this. Having to cope with a narrow frontage, they have chosen to go vertical.
Split levels add extra space. Tathastu, another women’s mall, has about 16,000 sq ft in its four-plus ground storied building. And there is nothing cramped about it, either. Janardan Kurade, proprietor, maintained that just stocking what women want also sells.
Apart from its private label for men’s ethnic wear, Jaihind Collections was among the earliest to specialise and stock all that a man could require under one roof: from accessories like sun glasses to perfume.
Dinesh Jain, partner, Jaihind Collections noted, “In another couple of years, you can expect to see most stores on Laxmi Road have gone in for a face lift. We are all changing, in line with customers needs.”
Neither Dinesh Jain nor Pramod Jain are stopping at specialised stores, though. Having worked out private labels, the next thing is to move to the Internet although Pramod Jain accepted that it will take him time to build the label.
Another trend, important for a traditional shopping area, is that despite moving away from sarees, sales have not really dropped. That is because the saree has moved up, the value of each sale being higher, making up for any diminution in volume. “Segment-wise,
readymades and Western outfits are growing at 30-40% annually. However, the highest sale of sarees in the higher price range.
That is because of the party-wear segment, a segment which has marked the return of the saree. In this segment, the price ranges from Rs 2,500-7,000 each and we specially design sarees for this segment,” Pramod Jain observed.
The make over of the traditional shopping area has largely been driven by the second generation of the owner’s family coming into the trade, barring Mr Kurade who saw an opportunity in women’s wear, after having been in the shoe business.
Dinesh Jain remarked that their fears of a fall in sales at Laxmi Road stores would go down, following the appearance of malls and large format stores, were unfounded. Footfall and sales were not affected, he maintained.
While competing with malls on grounds of better, personalised service, the traditional stores are also learning from them. For instance, loyalty programmes and e-ordering. While ethnic men’s wear can be e-ordered, Vama will be able to offer this facility three month’s time.
posted by InCar Group Press Room at 13:14
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