SMRITI SIDHU - FT13173

TITANIK COTTON WORLD

Walking on the streets of Mamallapuram I came across an Export Surplus store of garments named Titanik Cotton World.  I was instantly attracted to the colourful cotton dresses and scarfs on the mannequins. It was then I decided to write about this store for my marketing project as I was surprised to see such nice clothes in a small place like Mamallapuram.  The size of the showroom was approximately 100 square feet. As I entered, I saw clothes stacked on shelves on either side of the store and a central shelf which had swim costumes hanging on it.  The store was adequately lit with one changing room at the corner.

   

Mr Sennu has done his masters in Physics, however, he was not interested in becoming a professor. He always wanted to start a garment store of his own. He decided to open an export surplus store on one of the busiest streets (Thavadai Street) of Mamallapurm. Export Surplus of garments is a booming business in India. Export Surplus are goods which are in extra quantity and hence given to retailers. These are then sold at low cost by the retailers. These garments may include the rejected slot which may be either defective or not needed due to excessive production.

Titanik Cotton World was opened in Mamallapurm 9 years ago by Mr Sennu. He recently rented another store right opposite the first one on the 25^th of April 2012. One store is for men apparel and the other one for women and children apparel. The garments sold in these stores are 100% cotton or linen. The garments are picked up from a number of agents who buy these garments from the manufacturers and sell it to retailers. Garments for this store are picked up from agents mainly in Chennai and also from Hyderabad, Putapati, and Tirupur. Mr Sennu buys them on a weekly basis i.e. twice a week and stores them at his home as well as a small section of his store.

The store is open 7 days a week. Mr Sennu has two people working for him, a girl from Finland named Evilin and a local boy from a nearby village. The garments sold at a price ranging from Rs. 70 to Rs. 1200. The store sells western casuals which cater to both Indians and foreigners. Prices charged to the foreign customers are a little higher than what is charged to Indian customers.  Mr Seenu believes that the best form of advertisement is word of mouth hence has not done any form of advertisement for his store. His main aim is to create loyal customers. He also supplies bulk orders to a group of foreign customers. The main expense incurred by him is the rent he pays for the two shops, Rs. 1,500 and Rs. 2,500 respectively apart from the salary he pays to the sales person and the transportation cost.

Mamallapuram being a tourist spot attracts a large number of tourists between October and March. It is between these months the sales are maximum. As per data provided by Mr Seenu sales revenue raised per month is 1 lakh approx. and even higher when he gets a bulk order from any particular customer. The stock in Titanik Cotton World is not kept for a long time as Mr Seenu feels that the customers will lose interest in the store so he sells them at cost price to the customers. His stocks are bought depending on the demand of a particular kind of garment.

All in all I feel that this is a fantastic store and Mr Sennu as a shopkeeper and owner is very forthcoming and ensures that needs of his target customers are met. I guarantee the quality of the garments purchased.