Could you give us some background information on the history of the company, its structure and the nature of its activities in Sri Lanka as a retail shop?
This establishment was started nine years ago. It began small, in the sense that it was within a premises of 20 x 20 feet. This is from where the organization has grown to what it is today.
As a major player in the retail sector, could you give us your vision on what has been the development within the sector in later years and what has been the contribution of House of Fashion to this development? For e.g. your establishment was the first to introduce 24 hours shopping during the festival season. What is your vision of the development of this whole sector and what has been the contribution of your particular company to this development?
We have been catering broadly to three groups, the affluent, the middle and the lower middle classes. My wife and I studied the market and priced our products to cater to them. All the products that were marketed by our departmental store were, therefore, targeted toward these groups at the highest possible quality and at a relevant price that no other establishment in Sri Lanka was able to match.
Our enterprise grew rapidly and we had to move on to larger premises in Colombo and thereafter the business expanded to such proportions that we had to acquire the present building to cater to the daily influx of large numbers of shoppers.
On the day our department store at this building, which is entirely owned by us, was opened in December 1999, there was a record crowd of shoppers waiting to enter the shop. It was the Christmas season and we recorded an all time high of queues of two to three kilometers long of shoppers waiting outside our establishment to get inside. The main holiday season is the Sinhala & Tamil New Year which is celebrated nation-wide during which we have had huge crowds of shoppers. In December 2000, we were open for 24 hours for 05 days, and during the festive seasons of last December and April shoppers caused severe traffic congestion even at early hours of the days.
We are the first to open a garments retailing departmental store in Sri Lanka with quality goods which combined with affordable pricing and good customer relations has contributed to our success.It was our mutual vision, as husband and wife, backed by hard work, planned strategies, constant discussions and the strong support we have always unreservedly extended to each other, that has made House of Fashion what it is today.
Since you have mentioned how successful your business has progressed and the great attention that it is having from the public, are you thinking of expanding your business and opening a new facility or are you going to remain operating under the same premises and work with this building for the time being?
We will continue to operate in the present premises but will introduce branded products once we get a licence for them by August this year. More products too will become available. For the greater convenience of our customers we have already purchased land for extending vehicle parking facilities. We also hope to open branches outside Sri Lanka, initially in the U.K., and later in other countries.
Are you looking for joint ventures?
We will be doing it on our own. The difference in our department store is that we are the sole owners unlike other stores.
You mentioned the profile of your clients. Are there other target customers you are planning to incorporate into the three-targeted groups, and would
you like to see your business targeting upper and middle class groups?
This is why we are hoping to introduce branded names to meet requirements of upper middle class and upper class groups.
| In terms of competition, you cater to only a certain segment of the population that is not being catered to, by any others businesses. Do you see a threat of a potential competitor and what would you consider to be your closest competitors. Moreover, do you think you have a 100% of the market share?
We don't have any serious competitors. We are carrying on smoothly. We have a very considerable share of the market.
Could you give us some statistics on the number of staff and turnover for last year, or last month?
At the moment we have 198 male employees. Our turnover for a normal day is more than 5 million rupees. We do not like to disclose our figures for the peak seasons.
Why do you employ only males?
Because our store is open until 8/30pm and it is difficult for female workers to get about after work unlike males.
In terms of projects you mentioned that you are going to expand and build a parking space to facilitate your customers shopping. Are there any other projects in the pipeline like opening a branch in Europe?
As we mentioned, we hope to open a shop initially in London with reasonable prices and later on in other countries.
You said you do a certain amount of exports, where are your export markets located?
We export to Russia, London, Australia and Papua (New Guinea)..
The Far Eastern Economic Review may be back in two to three years time to do a new report and would most likely come and interview you again. Where do you like to see yourself in two to three years time?
We expect to change our shop interiors every two years and change the concepts at the same time. Most probably we would own another building as well. We have already bought the adjoining land to build a car parking lot to provide parking facilities for 150 to 200 cars. We also expect to expand internationally.
You both actively manage the business and I am assuming that you both have different experiences, backgrounds, what has been your personal and professional experience in general, individually or together?
I was a teacher previously and he was a seaman. After we married we engaged in business together and gained our entrepreneurial experience. We carry out our own research for identifying customer requirements, their needs, and expectations on a daily basis. We even carried out a market research. in London. We make our own decisions and consult each other on many matters. In Sri Lanka we work full time from 8 am till 10.30 pm in the store.
Our readers are all top management leaders, decision-makers and businessmen who will be reading about Sri Lanka. Some of them of course are in the retail business and are always interested in the opinion and vision of other leaders such as yourself, especially since you are such a unique team as a husband and wife working together to achieve certain goals. What would be your final message to our readers as a very successful business team?
Absolute sincerity towards customers. Our success has been based upon this, and no matter what the economic situation that prevails in the country we try our level best to keep our prices reasonable. We cut down on our overheads to enable our customers to get maximum benefits. Staff welfare has also contributed. Our employees are paid well, given incentive payments, bonuses. They also receive free food, lodging facilities, and medical cover. Their grievances are discussed and looked into by us and as a result we get excellent service in return.
NOTE: World Investment News Ltd cannot be made responsible for the content of unedited transcriptions. |
