Introduction to the Crafts Market of Mahabs

Meandering through the roads of Mahabalipuram market popularly known as “Mahabs”, I was drawn towards the rich offerings of this culturally rich place. It was a big market with almost all the basic amenities easily available. I found a tourist centric street dedicated to the handicraft and sculpture showrooms, where majority of the few people around me were foreigners. It surprised me that many shops were closed, as it was evening and also the peak time for shopping. When I enquired about the queer irregularity, I learned that most of the crafts shops were run by Kashmiri people and they visited their native places during summer off season.

The first crafts shop in the street was “Crafts Inn”. I observed that the shop's location was a huge advantage for it as it caught every pair of eyes entering the market. So it became the first stop of many tourists visiting the market. To add to it, the shopkeeper placed some of his best offering on display from outside to attract all the more customers and also to entice every eye lazy enough to miss the show-starter of the market.

The shopkeeper welcomed me with a warm smile as I entered the spacious shop. He was well versed in English, Hindi and Tamil languages. My initial observations about the shop were positive. I observed that the shop was neatly organised and laid with beautiful handicrafts which served dual purpose of decoration as well as display. Hence the available space was utilised to the maximum. The shop offered a wide range of handicraft products like carpets, shawls, ornaments, bed and pillow covers, fancy utensils, traditional and artificial jewellery, miniatures etc. These were exclusive and expensive handmade products like Pashmina shawls, Tibetan statues, gem stones silver jewellery, fine embroidery and mirror work designs from various regions like Rajasthan and Kashmir. These were mainly based on Indian traditional works and heritage, for which India is famous worldwide. What I felt strange was that the big shop was being handled by the owner alone, without any help.

I got the chance to interact with the owner, Mr. Hussain. We started with an informal conversation as he showed great interest about my native place and my purpose of visiting the Mahabs. He didn’t hesitate in answering the plethora of questions that I suddenly threw at him. In fact, he educated me about all the nearby tourist spots and even offered me a cup of tea. His behaviour acquainted me with an important aspect of marketing strategy, i.e. building customer relationship.

I learnt that networking is an important part of business and so is the impression left with the customer. I was amazed to learn that the shopkeeper used to receive calls asking for directions to his shop from tourists visiting the place for the first time. It was due to the strong network that he had built by establishing a rapport with the tourists and sharing his information with them, moreover encouraging them to share it further.

Even though there is a great demand for the merchandise, the shops still face many challenges growing year on year. The market has been highly competitive; with rampant expansion from just 5 showrooms in 2007 to over 80 now within the boundary of 5-6 km. Similar articles are available at various shops, which keep the price in check.