European Catalogue, the most famous retail fashion outlet of western wear for women in Ahmedabad, is headed by Samir Shah. Shah shares his views, ideas and experiences with images Business of fashion that have made his store one of the most preferred shopping destination.
For over two decades European Catalogue has managed to retain the position of the most stylish and preferred women’s western wear clothing in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It is the brainchild of Samir Shah. Shah started European Catalogue, when he was just 16 years old. He always had an inclination towards making it big as an entrepreneur in clothing industry all by himself.
The start-up of European Catalogue was in a small rented bungalow near St Xavier’s College in Ahmedabad. The location selected was surrounded by big universities and colleges thus targeting the young female crowd. Initially it was a bit limited but the selective collection received very good response from the buyers.
Shah’s hard work and foresightedness saw him climb the ladders of success very quickly. Presently he owns a three storey showroom with an area of 6,000 sq.ft. He says, “In clothing industry especially for women western wear it is important to have a keen eye on international fashion and retain a futuristic view. I have always maintained this vision and that paid well.”
The collection
European Catalogue is a one-stop fashion destination for women western wear comprise items like fashion tops, party dresses, casual t-shirts, denims, leggings, skirts, shrugs, kurtis and even added accessory stuffs such as bags and clutches, fashion accessories and footwear.
Shah adds, “We keep both Indian and international branded clothes, with a strict vigil on quality maintenance.” Brands like Boom, Recap, Deal, Wheels, 18Fire, etc. are part of their clothing collection. The product ranges from Rs. 400 – 4,000. The most popular price range among customers is Rs. 1,000 – 1,500. Sale ratio between Indian and International brands is about 70:30. He has kept pricing of the products very reasonable and affordable offering only good quality clothing. European Catalogue has managed to retain the position of trendsetters in Ahmedabad. Shah shares, “Now girls and women need not go to metro cities or Mumbai for shopping for stylish western wear. We have the latest and trendiest collection liked even by the tourists who visit the city.”
The customers
“Customers of European Catalogue are women from every section of the society and from age group as wide as 10 to 60 years as we have kept the price range very flexible and reasonable. Earlier when we started 20 years back only 20 percent females wore any form of western clothes, which has now increased to 60-70 percent. The fashion conscious youth of Ahmedabad prefers to shop at European Catalogue for latest, trendy and stylish western wear,” informs Shah.
He further says, “Women love exclusive things, variety and something that flaunts their beauty the best, we have huge collection in each category of readymade western wear garments. Nowadays people travel abroad quite frequently and are very inspired by movies. We try to maintain that international standard of fashion garments that are in-demand. Every new collection of ours has something different and new in terms of style and patterns.”
The store
Since its inception growth rate of the store has been 100 percent which is growing. The footfall and sale is 30 percent more on weekends i.e. Saturday and Sunday compared to weekdays. Display is changed according to the new trend and occasion. For instance, around Valentine Day mannequins are dressed in reds, one-piece dresses and romantic attires. Shah has the vision and great fashion sense. The entire purchasing decision is made by him, which is further sold at his three-storey store by the sales team comprising of 16 employees. The sales staff is trained by Shah himself and taught through discussions and encouraged to learn from their mistakes.
According to him the future of readymade western wear for women has great scope of growth in Gujarat and India. “Retailers keep profit margin between 12-15 percent on such readymade garments,” he informed.
Marketing strategy
Their biggest USP is word-of-mouth publicity. They have never run any ad neither used any media for promotional purposes and even no ‘sale’ is kept. Despite this their sale and profits are very high and strong in entire Ahmedabad city. Privileged customers are intimated through mobile messages or phone calls about any new and exclusive stock that has arrived at the store. But this personal promotion is limited to few customers only. European Catalogue as a brand is known to every youngster in the city and they have managed to emerge as trendsetters for girls and ladies.
Right now they are selling through their three-storey store located in the posh location of Vastrapur, Ahmedabad. In future they would like to expand but not through franchisees. Yes, they would like to try their hands in Ecommerce market if they get any good proposal or offers.
His advice to young and budding entrepreneurs is to believe in oneself, work harder and deliver according to the target customers’ demand.
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