Four Decades Of Lingerie Selling Excellence

Amrut, an exclusive lingerie store by Ravji P. Shah, in the western suburbs of Mumbai, has come a long way. It has witnessed four generations of families coming to the store for lingerie shopping. Shah shares about its relationship with the customers and their preferences.

- Zainab S Kazi

The year was 1975. Lingerie back then was not something women would easily talk about and shop for without any inhibitions. Exclusive shops dealing in women’s undergarments were a handful, not more than five to be precise. Either there was no demand hence less supply or vice versa, but the fact remained that lingerie shopping was confined to local department stores. Rajiv P. Shah, decided to take the plunge into opening an exclusive lingerie store at one of the busy western suburbs of Mumbai. The store was called Amrut. We speak with Shah to know about his journey in this category.

The Journey

“We were into the business of selling readymade garments for children, from where we also sold women’s undergarments. That was our own store. I was 25 then. A shop adjacent to ours was available for rent. It was a small space but big enough to open a lingerie store. In fact, there was nothing else that I could think of, keeping in mind the size of the shop.” Shah recalls how the shop was a success from day one. On the first day, he managed to cash in 300 worth of sales. Adding further on the journey, he shares, “My relationship with my customers from my earlier shop (children’s wear) was very strong. These were the same customers who would now do their lingerie shopping from my new store. Word of mouth led to women coming in from every nook and corner of the city. For five years, I single handedly managed my entire store and then in 1980, one of my old sales stafffrom the children’s store joined me. In 1981, we went on to expand and opened one more store that dealt in men’s undergarments and then, there was another women’s lingerie store we opened in Andheri West. Both these store are in partnership with a friend of mine.”

Understanding the Customer