Take
a stroll around Panjim, and you can still feel the old-world charm of
the city amidst its newer and modern localities, tall and posh
buildings and a range of latest shops and showrooms. Right in the
midst of all the chaos and urbanised township lies the older version
of this
beautiful riverside town, retaining the bits and pieces from the past
in the form of old bungalows, buildings, cafés and of course, the
age-old, yet still very popular shops.
While
you are spoilt for choice with the different branded outlets and
high-end stores that have opened in the capital city, there still are
a number of establishments that continue to hold the hearts of its
patrons. One
such
establishment that has always been popular
is Casa J
D
Fernandes.
It’s the shop of
preference for all things stationery.
“A large variety of items to choose from is what makes us unique
and popular among customers,” says the proprietor, Oswaldo
Fernandes. He
adds, “In our shop, we make sure that we are able to address people
from all backgrounds
by offering stationery of different types, belonging to a vast price
range. We are functional since the 1900s and we were one of the first
and still amongst the few shops that offer a wide range of stationery
items under one roof. That’s what has made us popular. Also, the
people who visit us
say that we
are very good at maintaining customer relations. We see to it that
our customers are well-served and well-attended
to.”
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Another
old establishment that has been the go-to shop for buying cloth since
the pre-liberation times is Saroj Emporium. “The trend of naming
shops started much later. So although we had our shop registered
since before liberation, we got ourselves the name Saroj Stores in
1962. Now, we have a total of three branches in Goa. I feel that the
three things that define our success are good customer service,
reasonable rates and good quality products. We make sure that we
update ourselves,
catering to the customers’ needs and expand our scope in accordance
with the latest trends. Earlier, we printed ‘Customer satisfaction
is our motto’ on our bags and lived up
to it,”
maintains Umesh L Naik of Saroj Emporium. Three generations of their
family are into this business, and needless to say, they are still
going strong.
Bhagat
Stores has been one of the most preferred shops for groceries.
Says Virendra
Bhagat,
“Quality and rates always prove to be deciding factors when it
comes to retaining customers in a competitive market. We have always
had better rates as compared to any other grocer in Panjim and also
supply some exclusive products
that aren’t easily
available elsewhere,
which draws customers towards us.”
Farmacia
Salcete, the medical store with the utmost facilities and almost all
the medicines that can ever be prescribed by the doctors in Panjim,
is also one of the oldest shops in the town, though it doesn’t look
old any more due to renovation. Salil Kare, the proprietor, opines,
“For us, running a pharmacy is not just a business. We
consider it a
noble profession. We believe in providing our customers with the
right medicine at the right time, at the
right price.
That must be the reason why our customers love to come back to us. We
gain their trust.” On the modern look of the shop that has changed
a lot over time, Kare expresses, “Unless you reinvent, you cannot
succeed. In this age of technology, it’s very important to alter
ourselves.We were one of the first pharmacies in Goa to use air
conditioning,
as we know storing the medicines at the correct temperature is
necessary to maintain quality. We were also the first to incorporate
the use of computers. However, as much as I believe that change and
technology is important, in the end, it’s the human touch that can
help you have customers and popularity.”
Roma
Singbal of Singbal Book House too emphasises on the need for
change and
customer relationships, when it comes to maintaining your place in
the market. “Earlier, our bookstore was a textbook and academic
material specialist. However, when the government started supplying
free study material to the students in school itself, it took a toll
on us. It’s then that we expanded ourselves and started selling
other books like children’s literature and it helped us retain our
buyers. We also take special efforts to order specific books for
people even if we don’t have them at that
moment, so that the customer comes back to us whenever he/she is in
need again,” shares Singbal.
There
are several other shops in town that are
being visited
by generations of families for ages, updating themselves to suit the
new,
younger customers, while also maintaining their traditional charm in
some form
or the other.
As all the above proprietors rightly pointed out, it’s the
excellent customer service and quality products that have helped
these old establishments
continue
to stand out
and
be successful
despite the rising competition in the market.
