R. Ravikumar
P.R. Sivakumar

"We are now in talks with software majors such as Wipro, Cognizant and TCS for organising exhibitions at their premises periodically."

SELF-SERVICE: Products for sale at the Khadi Gramadyog Bhavan outlet on Anna Salai in Chennai. — Bijoy Ghosh

Chennai , Jan. 18

Bitten by the modern retail bug, Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan, Chennai, a unit of Khadi and Village Industries Commission, is all set to give a facelift to its outlets in the city. "With domestic biggies and multinationals dotting the city's retailscape, we have to tone up our muscles to face the competition in our own way," says Mr M. Raghunathan, Secretary, Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan (KGB).

Coinciding with its Golden Jubilee year, Khadi, which retails FMCG, groceries and handicrafts procured from cottage industries, is switching to self-service format.

Phased revamp

"As a first step, KGB is revamping its store at Anna Salai. And then will convert other stores in a phased manner," he says.

According to Mr Raghunathan, it also plans to convert its 1,500-sq.ft outlet at Gopalapuram to a 5,000-sq.ft, air-conditioned store before the end of this year.

KGB, in addition to conducting exhibitions at its stores periodically, also takes its wares to other areas in the city for similar exhibitions. That apart, four- or five-day special exhibitions are conducted at the premises of software companies such as Infosys and Covansys three to four times a year. The exercise is proving to be very successful, he says.

"The kind of response we get at those places is really very encouraging. These exhibition sales alone account for around Rs 1.5 crore a year."

According to him, average daily sales run up to Rs 35,000 - Rs 40,000 in software companies during the special exhibitions.

"We are now in talks with other software majors such as Wipro, Cognizant and TCS for organising similar exhibitions at their premises periodically," he says.

"These exhibition sales mainly add to our topline growth. Though profit margins are very low, it gets KGB good publicity among consumers," says Mr R. Sundara Raja Murthy, Manager.

Organic vegetables

KGB is procuring handicrafts from artisans across the country and food items mostly from cooperative societies or self-help groups in various districts of Tamil Nadu.

"We are also planning to sell organic vegetables at our stores. We are in talks with some of the growers to procure vegetables from them," says Mr Raghunathan.

Flaunting a list of the State's who's who as regular customers, he says last year KGB posted a turnover of Rs 12 crore with textiles, thanks to State and Central Government subsidies, accounting for the most, followed by groceries.

"We hope to grow by at least 10 per cent this year."

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