MALL PRACTICE: When mom-pop shops in Goa rub shoulders with mega brands

Malls mushrooming across the State are providing a platform for many upcoming entrepreneurs. It’s not only about big brands and retail chains, street vendors and ‘mom and pop’ shop owners too are moving to the mall. Many of the small entrepreneurs are entering the mall for the first time. They all want to move upwards with time. And why not? 

The advantages of having a presence in the mall are many. The footfalls are bound to be much greater as invariably, people visiting a mall perceive the ‘event’ as a family outing and shopping for all kinds of merchandise available under one roof and in a pleasant ambience. The food courts, entertainment zone and the cinema halls are an added attraction.

Mayaram God, a native of Basti in Uttar Pradesh migrated to Goa about twelve years ago and with his sheer grit to survive, is running a small-time restaurant ‘Leena Hotel’ in Vasco which is doing fairly brisk business due to his hygenic and tasty ‘chaats’. Mayaram who is a proprietor of Damodar Chaat Bhandar informed Herald, “I decided to expand and start a shop inside the mall to cater to the growing market as I have the confidence and the required expertise to operate Chaat Corner on a larger platform. It will surely help me improve my business and give more respectability.”

Gyan Gupta of Akansha Food has been associated with one of Vasco’s famous restaurant and has an expertise in north Indian snacks, which includes ‘Chole Bhaturey’ and ‘parathas’. “I have now plans to expand my business and it is imperative for me to showcase my product in a mall, which will increase my customer base and their confidence in me,” said Gyan Gupta.

Ashford Gonsalves, proprietor, Oscar’s Junction (OJ) Supermarket, an engineer with an MBA degree gave up a plush job to return home to build a retail brand in the village of Majorda. “The vision to start the supermarket was of my father. He wanted to make life easier for the local community, who had to commute to Margao for every basic necessity. Twelve years later, OJ has grown tremendously and has built a retail brand name. From a mere 100 walk-in customers a day, today we have 1000+ walk-ins a day and now operate from a 5000 sqft dedicated retail space in the Stop 2 Shop mall,” said Ashford Gonsalves.

He added that, “We were humbled that a major brand chose to partner with us. It’s a great opportunity to tie up with such a well-known and widely recognised brand that will help us take our style of business and OJ to the next level. This partnership is aimed at offering convenience to the end consumers by making a large range of product offerings, accessible in their neighbourhood. It will be a massive learning curve for the OJ staff. The future is to replicate the OJ business model across Goa by eventually creating a franchisee model. But our focus will always be our local family run store.”

Walkover, the toy and baby store started business in October 2004 and over the years the shop has customers hailing from not only the remote corners of the state but also from the metros of India. “Invariably there are requests from the customers to open an outlet in their hometown or in a city in close proximity of their residence. I thought the time was now right for Walkover to move out of Panjim. As part of the expansion plans, the brand is on the threshold of making its presence in malls located in cities outside Panjim while its flagship store at Panjim is on the verge of undergoing major facelift and expansion. The soon to be commissioned Vasco mall will be the first to have our outlet outside Panjim and this is largely due to its owner who came across as someone who is fair, genuine, honest and always willing to serve. For me personally, Vasco is like a home coming since I was born and raised in this town,” said Vrida Tavora, proprietor of Walkover.

The list of entrepreneurs does not end here as the mall has managed to rope in a Goan who was doing business in UK. Crème luscious was first founded in 2008 in UK. It was a business from home, baking cakes and savouries on order for all occasions and events like Goa Day in Swindon and Hounslow. 

“In year 2014 we decide to have our first cafe and bakery in Agassaim where we offer the perfect blend of classic Goan, American, British and French pastries and savouries. The entire staff, from chef to server, is dedicated to providing exceptional products and service. Vasco’s S2S mall is a good opportunity for us,” said Josil Desa the properitor of Crème Luscious.

Ratan Borana proprietor of Manthan Kajuwalla mainly deals in dry fruits, chocolates and confectionaries etc. The company was established in the year 2013. “Our motto in the company is to have healthy and long lasting client relationship. We started with a small unit of sweet manufacturing and sales at Vasco, Goa in the year 1972 and never looked back. Today we have more than seven outlets in Vasco city and very soon we too will be in the S2S mall,” said Ratan Borana.

Akhil Chadha, promoter of Shravan and Krishan, the company opening the S2S mall in September, said, “We have tried our best to give a variety from local to big fashion brand like MAX to our customers in Goa, specially Vasco and it should be operational by mid-September. We have taken special care that those who wanted space here would get it after qualifying for the basic minimum standards.”