Akbarallys MEN has fulfilled the dire need in the South Mumbai area for a trendy men’s clothing store. Gurbir Singh Gulati talks to Umme Aiman Khorakiwala, Managing Director, Akbarallys MEN and discusses the topic of men’s fashion. Moving ahead Khorakiwala has great plans for this new entity, which she shares in the interview.
In early 1897, the Khorakiwalas started India’s first ‘department store’ – selling a range of items, such as pharmaceuticals, dry fruits, electronics, imported products and more. A family venture, Akbarallys (founded by Fakhruddin T Khorakiwala) soon turned into an immaculate example in the business of retail, as it was the ultimate store that provided everything under one roof. This extremely ambitious endeavour grew into a flourishing chain with multiple outlets across the city. Akbarallys is still fondly remembered for its various social-cause events, city cleaning drives, riot reliefs, Santa Claus parades, Chacha Deepak and more. Soon after, it became a landmark at Fountain and a name every person living in then Bombay (present Mumbai) could relate with – for just about everything.
Exactly 118 years later, in April 2015, Umme Aiman Khorakiwala, the daughter of Juzar Saifuddin Khorakiwala, remodeled the brand to Akbarallys MEN. The 10,000 sq. ft. store at Fountain now reopens its doors as a premium multi-brand outlet (MBO) for men – a concept entirely different from its original. A shop-in-shop (SIS) format, the new store provides an extensive collection of clothing and other necessities for men: all from premium Indian and international brands. The store also consists of a private in-house barber shop catering to men’s quick grooming and styling needs.
Excerpts from the interview:
Tell us about Akbarallys’ new venture Akbarallys MEN. How did you hit upon the idea of starting a menswear store?
Aiman Khorakiwala (AK): We realised that South Mumbai needed a men’s store. Although there are many men’s outlets in Mumbai, but they are exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) of a particular brand. The men needed a store where they could come and shop for everything under a single roof. This is the need we identified. Additionally, we had this urge to change what we were doing for the last 100 years – running a departmental store.
We also focused on the fact that the men’s brands that we are going to work with are highly organised players. We have a bouquet of popular men’s brands in our store. In fact, our store is one of a kind, where such a large space is being dedicated to the branded menswear category.
You have been witness to the growth of organised retail in India. What has been the transformation that you have witnessed between then and now?
AK: Akbarallys had its golden years when there was no other place to shop except us. So everything one needed was available in the store. Then it went through a downturn where the retail scenario in the country changed and we saw brands and larger retail players coming in the country. This did shake our foundation but the fact remained that Akbarallys never lost its charm of being a branded store. We realised that running a 10,000 sq. ft. store with 40 categories does not make any sense and one had to do justice to a single category. That is how we came across opening Akbarallys MEN. We are aware of what we are doing and we feel proud to say that there is no other place in South Mumbai where all the popular men’s brands are available under one roof.
What will be the target audience for your store?
AK: Our customer could be a young college-going kid, as we house brands like Mufti and Copperstone, and then he could also be someone who prefers brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Jack & Jones or Being Human. Our target customer is aged between 20 and 45 years.
How are you trying to position the store and what is your vision?
AK: We have positioned Akbarallys MEN in the premium segment and this is reflected in the very imagery and clientele of our store. Our vision is to be recognised as the most acclaimed premium menswear store. Currently, we have opened in South Mumbai and have plans to expand our presence to other parts of the city.
Every new store encounters peculiar challenges while establishing itself. Please share the ones you have faced and the ways you have overcome them.
AK: The first challenge was to choose the brands with the space we had to dedicate. We are a 10,000 sq.ft. store and we still feel it is not enough to cater to a category like menswear, which has so many good brands which hold great potential to a retailer. We did our study to hand-pick a good denim, shirts, partywear brand, a good casual brand and we have come up with a curated kitty of brands, which caters to all sets of customers. We have a highly experienced CEO in our company, who has been instrumental in selecting the brands which are housed at Akbarallys MEN.
Kindly share some detail about the store aesthetics, special features and things that make Akbarallys MEN stand out from competition.
AK: This building comes in the heritage structures where we house our store. We had to be extremely careful as we did not make changes to any of the original structures. The store is designed by a leading retail architect based out of Delhi. He has played with a lot of aesthetics and right lighting to create a well-planned space for our SIS. We have given an industrial look to the store and exposed the original structure and heritage mouldings, which were there in the building. All the fixtures and fittings of this store are customised by fabricators with the help of our architect. It took us four months to design the store. Nevertheless, while designing the store we were very clear to leave a touch of our identity. This was done by keeping uniform flooring. All brands having their SIS had to keep this.
How much investment has gone in setting up the store and what is the return on investment (ROI) expected?
AK: We have done up everything from the start and hence there is a good amount of investment which has gone in setting up the store. We are looking at a gross ROI of at least 40-50 percent.
Akbarallys has been an extremely trusted and renowned brand. We have an extremely loyal clientele and I aspire to continue this tradition in a whole new way. While women have numerous shopping options and do not mind travelling from one store to another to satisfy their shopping needs, I noticed the lack of an MBO for men in the city. Moreover, Fountain is an extremely male-dominated space – a commercial area frequented by men of all ages and corporate backgrounds – which explains why the men’s section in the original store always performed well. It only seemed ideal to utilise the space well and introduce once more the concept of ‘everything under one roof’– this time for men.
How many more stores are you looking to open in the next 5 years and what are your future plans?
AK: Our first store has just opened recently, but we have plans to expand further in Mumbai or other tier-II cities. You can see another Akbarrallys MEN store by next year. We are also doing a thorough research and one can see more roll-out plans starting in the next 2-3 years.
Are there any interesting concepts or innovations that you have introduced at your stores? Please give details.
AK: We had the space and we thought to add some value other than just garments, which can get monotonous. Internationally, there are stores which have a barber shop in it and we thought to replicate this idea here at Akbarallys MEN. This is an idea which, according to us, was not only innovative but also practical as we are located in a commercial place in South Mumbai, where people need such services.
Please provide details of promotional activities that you carry on at your stores.
AK: We do not want to resort to discounting unless it is a sales season. We are trying to position ourselves in the premium category so we do not want to work on discounts. We need to announce that the best of the men’s premium brands are available in South Mumbai under one roof with Akbarallys MEN, with a lot of value-added services. Our marketing USP is about the convenience of having everything under one roof.
Can you give us details about the current category split in terms of products currently existing at your stores, and plans for category expansion (plans to add new category of products)?
AK: We have casuals, partywear, formals, accessories, innerwear and even ethnicwear in our store. Then we have a bespoke tailoring wing. We have sportswear brands like Puma already in our store and we are looking at expanding this category by bringing in more brands.
Tell us about the brands, product range and services available at your stores?
AK: We have an SIS concept with brands like Planet Fashion, Allen Solly, Van Heusen and Louis Philippe, all of which have a dedicated space. Apart from this, we have Jack & Jones, Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger, Being Human, US Polo Assn., United Colors of Benetton, Pepe, Indian Terrain, Mufti, etc.
What is your private label strategy? In which categories do you have private labels?
AK: We have already done it with our brand called ‘AKB’, which is an abbreviation of Akbarallys. In this we have just launched a collection of linen and office shirts. These are priced between Rs. 1,499 and go up to Rs. 1,999. We also plan to launch trousers in our brand by the next season.
Share in detail about the bespoke tailoring wing. How exactly does it work?
AK: This is one of a very special venture. We have got Indian and Italian fabrics. We have a full-fledged bespoke tailoring arm, which can understand the customers’ demands and their preferences to styles. We also have plenty of options and design templates, which really help customers to pick, choose and make customisations in their clothing. We have specialised tailors, who understand the latest trends and make something which fits one’s style. We are doing suits, bandgalas, shirts, trousers, etc.
We also offer home service for measurements to our bespoke tailoring arm in South Mumbai. Currently, we are in the process of setting up our website to evolve this further.
What are the various initiatives that you have taken to look after your customer better? Please provide details of your customer loyalty programme (if any).
AK: We plan to start our loyalty programme soon. We want to give immediate benefits to our loyal shoppers. There are many retailers in the market offering the customers their loyalty cards, which they are not able to handle. We want to run this loyalty through their mobile numbers, which will in turn send SMS and e-mails going out to the customers.
I also want to start a programme, where a customer shops for a certain amount and gets an immediate benefit through an SMS, which they can redeem the next time they come to our store.
Many retailers have turned online. Will you be exploring this channel for consumers’ convenience?
AK: We are just waiting to establish ourselves in the next two seasons and post this I will be exploring an opportunity to be available online for our customers.
What is your total employee strength? Please provide details about how each store is manned and how many employees are there in each store. Also, how do you ensure their training and development?
AK: We have a total of 40 sales staff and more than half of them are provided by the brands because they have an SIS at my store. Of this, half of them are on our pay role. We have a regular incentive structure to reward and motivate them to sell. We have periodic training programmes.
How big is the men’s market in India and what are the factors propelling the industry’s growth? Tell us about some of the trends you have been witnessing in the industry in India over the past few years.
AK: Men’s category is growing at a great scale. Men today are extremely brand conscious and are particularly conscious about the way they look and the dress. There is an evolution of a metro-sexual man emerging, which believes in sharp dressing and pampering himself.
Men’s category has become highly organised. The challenges that see face is from the online medium. However, in the longer run, we do not feel brick-and-mortar stores will lose their value as the customer still wants to experience, touch, go out and shop.
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