You can't write off small players in great retail march
The story of retail is the story of many small retailers understanding their own strength. Like the Kolkata-based GKB Opticals, which got itself a makeover from a need-based commodity to a lifestyle offering.
By Jayashree Bhosale, TNN |
PUNE: The story of retail is the story of many small retailers understanding their own strength. Like the Kolkata-based GKB Opticals, which got itself a makeover from a need-based commodity to a lifestyle offering.
“We deliberately changed the look in our shops. Now, there is music, better seating and display in our stores. Thus we changed the need-based shopping of prescription eyewear to life-style-based shopping,” said H V N Raj, general manager (sales), GKB Opticals.
He is not alone. The Pune-based men’s wear specialist, Jaihind Collections, expanded its original 8,000 sq ft store into a steel and glass, multi-storied edifice, spread over 25,000 sq ft. And, says Preshit Jain, director of the 25-year old Jaihind Collections, “If I had not opened a branch at Kothrud then someone else would have done it.”
This is a story heard across sectors of retail, apparel stores, jewellers, photography chains or even an ice cream brand, all are local to the city. Now, with higher disposable incomes in rural areas, they are targeting the tier II and III towns, too, while avoiding Mumbai, the megapolis.
Analysing the success of local brands in Pune, Abhijeet Ranade, associate director, PwC, said that brands like Akbarally’s in Mumbai and Jaihind in Pune cannot die because they are known either for their distinctive product, service or brand. “They are specialised retailers catering to specific segments of the society.
Also, they are constantly re-inventing and incorporating the in-things. This becomes evident if we look at the changes they have undergone over the years, since their inception,” said Mr Ranade.
The secret of the growth of local retailer in the face of competition from malls and other large format corporate backed retailers lies in their unique understanding of the tastes of their customers. Their personalised service, a wider choice and the goodwill and trust of the local population are their other attractions.
Cotton King is yet another local brand, specialising in cotton men’s wear. It has six outlets in Pune and one each in Nashik, Kolhapur, Aurangabad, Latur, Satara and Dombivali.
Then there is Fotofast, developer and printer of photographs, with over 25 outlets in the city and P N Gadgil & Co (PNG) a local brand in gold jewellery which has added three more stores in Pune from 2001. It had just one store on Laxmi road till then, set up over five decades ago.
“We deliberately changed the look in our shops. Now, there is music, better seating and display in our stores. Thus we changed the need-based shopping of prescription eyewear to life-style-based shopping,” said H V N Raj, general manager (sales), GKB Opticals.
He is not alone. The Pune-based men’s wear specialist, Jaihind Collections, expanded its original 8,000 sq ft store into a steel and glass, multi-storied edifice, spread over 25,000 sq ft. And, says Preshit Jain, director of the 25-year old Jaihind Collections, “If I had not opened a branch at Kothrud then someone else would have done it.”
This is a story heard across sectors of retail, apparel stores, jewellers, photography chains or even an ice cream brand, all are local to the city. Now, with higher disposable incomes in rural areas, they are targeting the tier II and III towns, too, while avoiding Mumbai, the megapolis.
Analysing the success of local brands in Pune, Abhijeet Ranade, associate director, PwC, said that brands like Akbarally’s in Mumbai and Jaihind in Pune cannot die because they are known either for their distinctive product, service or brand. “They are specialised retailers catering to specific segments of the society.
Also, they are constantly re-inventing and incorporating the in-things. This becomes evident if we look at the changes they have undergone over the years, since their inception,” said Mr Ranade.
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The secret of the growth of local retailer in the face of competition from malls and other large format corporate backed retailers lies in their unique understanding of the tastes of their customers. Their personalised service, a wider choice and the goodwill and trust of the local population are their other attractions.
Cotton King is yet another local brand, specialising in cotton men’s wear. It has six outlets in Pune and one each in Nashik, Kolhapur, Aurangabad, Latur, Satara and Dombivali.
Then there is Fotofast, developer and printer of photographs, with over 25 outlets in the city and P N Gadgil & Co (PNG) a local brand in gold jewellery which has added three more stores in Pune from 2001. It had just one store on Laxmi road till then, set up over five decades ago.
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