The bright idea of our store’s name came to us quite unexpectedly. I had teamed up with Contract, a well-known advertising agency, to find the perfect name. Over the course of a few weeks, they suggested many names, but for some reason or the other none of them felt right to me or the Rahejas. One day, after an arduous session of brainstorming (but failing to come up with any good name for our store) I called Mr Raheja and said, “Sir, if we don’t decide on a name by tomorrow or the day after, we will not be able to launch the store before Diwali.” The night after our conversation, Mr Raheja called me, saying, “My wife is in Boston standing in front of a supermarket called ‘Stop and Shop’. Why don’t we think on similar lines?” After thinking hard for a few minutes, we zeroed in on Shoppers’ Stop.
Shoppers’ Stop. It was the perfect name. It did not limit the store to any specific gender, product or category. It captured the idea that shopping at our store would be an enjoyable experience. Above all, it epitomised the retail revolution perfectly, proclaiming itself as a one-stop shop for all our customers’ needs. Though the people at Contract thought the name was unconventional, they warmed up to it soon enough. Over the years, they became more than just business partners. They were an essential part of our brand’s identity. We worked together for three decades. We were both committed to excellence and building a brand to create memories, not merely sell goods.
Shoppers’ Stop – a dream in my mind that was slowly manifesting into reality. A nameless, formless dream now had a name and a form. At the soul of the store was the idea to revolutionise retail in India.
A revolution means asking people to reimagine the world. How were we going to get people to reimagine the retail world? How were we going to show people what the new shopping experience would look like? How would we convey the intangible emotions of company and consumer connections? My doubts were dispelled by Preethi Maroli, the key account manager from Contract who then handled our portfolio. A visionary, she not only shared my vision, but understood it. Our meticulously planned advertisements and branding became the tools we used to achieve our goals. A never-before-seen store needed to offer never-before-seen amenities. For instance, our store was the first to ever have central air-conditioning. In 1991, this was an alien concept to Indian customers. We proudly boosted it in our ads. There were many other advantages we would offer our customers. The first set of ads we ever put out focused on showcasing these advantages.
In a country where cars and cattle moved alongside each other, finding decent parking was difficult. Fortunately, for us, this wasn’t an issue. The four-screen movie theatre had ample parking space in and around the building.
One of our biggest selling points was the range we offered under one roof. We covered everything that entailed men’s apparel and accessories. Shirts, trousers, suits, socks, T-shirts, vests and many other items. If customers were looking to buy good quality men’s apparel and accessories, this was their one-stop shop.
Most important of all, we highlighted the inception of self-service. Shoppers’ Stop was a place where people could walk in, browse for hours on end and explore the store at their own pace. Customers could enjoy the process of selecting clothes on their own or with assistance. Or one could leave without buying anything at all. There was no prodding or judgment. It was too radical a concept to introduce – and this is what Shoppers’ Stop embodied – a radical, novel way of international shopping in India. For the first time.
Finally, the success of a retail store is directly correlated to its location. It’s a rule of thumb of retail. Our store stood tall on one of the busiest streets in Mumbai called SV Road, in Andheri, Mumbai. Need I say more?
As all the cogs began to fit into place, opening day neared. I have a vivid memory of that day – October 27, 1991. My entire team and I had stayed back the previous night to make sure everything was ready. So on the morning of the opening, we had taken turns to go home and freshen up. We were all gearing up for a long day, a day we had all been working towards.
Amidst last-minute preparations, I stood still for a minute to absorb the gravity of the moment. I thought to myself, just three months ago my dream was ethereal. Within three months, the universe had realigned itself to make this dream a reality. All the right people came together to work in tandem and achieve the impossible. From the family that hired me to the people I hired, we had all come together to create an unforgettable moment in the history of Indian retail. For a moment, failure and success seemed irrelevant. In my mind, we had already accomplished the unthinkable.
However, these thoughts were cut short by an employee who informed me that the tempos that were supposed to deliver our clothing racks were stuck in traffic. As I looked around and saw all the clothes packed in cartons, I grew nervous. We were going to open soon and our store did not look welcoming and warm by any stretch of the imagination. It looked more like a shady place that ran some kind of a carton cartel. I needed to think fast. Before I could sell and buy clothes, I needed to buy myself time. A novel idea struck me!
We had asked a panditji (priest) to conduct a pooja (ritual of worship) to bless the opening of our store. He had already begun his chanting. I silently crouched next to him and whispered in his ear, “Panditiji, please make sure you take your time and stretch out the chants for God to hear clearly, so He may shower us with all His blessings.” The plan worked! God’s blessings poured in, and the tempos arrived. My fatigued but fervid team and I, along with the ever-present Bela Gupta, our manager, Mr Kulkarni and Preethi, along with our first batch of associates, hurried to arrange the store. Sharp at 11 am, the doors of Shoppers’ Stop were opened to its customers for the first time. The eagle had indeed landed. We were standing in a 2,850-square-foot retail store dedicated to men’s apparel and accessories. The first phase of a well-lit, well organised and welcoming store. The entire day was fuelled by adrenaline. It was our grand introduction to the industry of apparel. On the first day, most people just walked in out of curiosity. They strolled around and absorbed the store’s ambience. Once we shut shop for the day, we collectively exhaled.
Over that weekend, hundreds of people poured in from all over the area. No one in India had ever seen anything like it. I knew we had hit the mark. Mr Raheja’s ambition, my vision and my team’s unwavering diligence had all borne fruit. But I knew that revolution had just begun!
(In 2005, Shoppers’ Stop was rebranded as Shoppers Stop. For consistency, I have referred to it as Shoppers Stop throughout the book.)
Excerpted with permission from Serve: Business From the Heart – The Shoppers Stop Way, BS Nagesh with Ritu de Ferrao, Crossword.
