Coming In From The Cold
More and more of Belgaum's well-educated-and
well-heeled-youth are staying back, and constituting a purchasing
class that marketers are finding difficult to ignore.
BELGAUM
|
Area: 94.08 sq. km
Closest metro: Mumbai (500 km)
Population: 3.99 lakh (2001
census)
Primary constituents: Business class
Languages spoken: Kannada, English, Marathi
Famous for: Silk
Lasting impression: From the
Maruti 800 to the Toyota Camry, every possible car can be seen
on Belgaum roads |
It
was in 1860 that the grandfather of Hasham Abdul Karim Bandukwala
migrated from Gujarat into Belgaum, and started Gunboris which,
as the name suggests, began as a gun store. Today, the 80-year-old
third-generation Bandukwala still sells a few rifles, has "diversified"
into a dealership for Whirlpool and Kelvinator refrigerators, also
stocks assorted gift items, and for some, um, strategic reason is
also a seller of Libertina bras. ''Gun licences are restricted these
days, so I have to stock other items too,'' smiles Bandukwala, who
recollects that his store at one time would cater to customers right
from Pune to Bangalore.
A few blocks away in the same shopping area
of Belgaum-which is actually the town's main square, with its four
bustling sides known as Ramdev Galli, Khade Bazaar, Ganpat Galli
and Maruti Galli-Bandukwala's nephew, Shuaib, has been running a
Wills Lifestyle store for three years now, which stocks most of
the Wills contemporary range in the Rs 450-1,500 range. Bandukwala
junior has got into a nine-year agreement with ITC, does an annual
turnover of Rs 40 lakh, and comfortably breaks even. But he's still
a bit restless. ''That little extra is not there. If I had a variety
of brands, I would be able to attract more buyers," he explains.
Many more than the eight to 10 footfalls he gets on weekdays.
A walk around the market area reveals what Bandukwala
is talking about. All conceivable ''urban brands,'' right from Adidas
to Reebok to Louis Philippe to Van Heusen dovetail delightfully
in a riot of colour with local brands, including the ubiquitous
Polo Jean Joint, peddling its wares at "direct factory price."
But it's the contrasting retail efforts of
the senior and junior Bandukwalas that in many ways typify how the
traditional and the modern are coming together swimmingly in the
town of Belgaum, which many decades ago was even more important
than Bangalore in the south-western scheme of things because of
its location-equidistant from Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad-and
the quality of its education and healthcare system. Today, Bangalore
has left Belgaum behind, but the colleges and hospitals are still
top class, and the good news is that fewer doctors and post-grads
are making tracks for outstation and overseas opportunities (the
only doctor of Indian origin on George Bush's panel is an MBBS from
Belgaum).
|
Brands do matter: This Wills Lifestyle
Store represents the buying power of the people here |
Two doctors in their white coats and stethoscopes
slung around their arms are sipping on cappuccinos at Café
Coffee Day, bang opposite the 41-year-old extension to the Civil
Hospital. Four Goan students kill time, taking in Tata Young on
MTV, fondling their camera phones, and grin sheepishly when asked
if they're on holiday (Goa is a 100-odd km away, and the Goans come
mainly to shop, whilst raucous tourists from Kolhapur-110 km into
Maharashtra-come for sheer pleasure). A middle-aged executive just
back from the Income Tax Office housed in the same complex contemplates
the day ahead over an Expresso. Also in the complex is a busy Hutch
Shop, a six-month- young HDFC Bank branch, a UAE Xchange, and Karvy's
broking outpost, the Finapolis.
That pretty much sums up the action on Ambedkar
Road, which you could say is one of the four centres of action in
Belgaum. Most of the bustle of course takes place in the market
square, where just alongside the Wills Lifestyle Store is nestled
Reliance Webworld, which is preparing to launch the Java Green café
in addition to broadband, videoconferencing and virtual office services
as well as high-speed gaming for its 11,000-strong customer base.
The upper scale Tilakwadi constitutes the third buzzing area, home
to ICICI Bank, an authorised reseller for Compaq, and a local café,
Café Blue Rock, perched ideally in the ICICI Bank and ICICI
Home Finance complex. The final piece of happening Belgaum is Nehru
Nagar, which houses the hotels (mainly three-star) and restaurants
as well as UTI Bank, a newly-opened Chevrolet dealership and a huge
first-floor local furnishings showroom.
Right from the Maruti 800 to the Toyota Camry,
you'll find every possible car on Belgaum roads. That's because
virtually every manufacturer-Fiat, Ikon, Honda, Toyota, Skoda, Hyundai
and Maruti and Tata-has an outpost there. According to the estimates
of Satish Halkarni, Manager, Ballad Hyundai, Maruti would be selling
80 cars a month, Hyundai some 20 and Tata (Indica and Indigo) another
40. ''The competition is fierce,'' says Halkarni, as DSAS like ICICI's
Car Point are willing to go as low as 5.75 per cent with their finance
schemes.
The rich pool of an educated and prospering
middle class also results in healthy pc sales of 200 a month, 60
per cent of which is accounted for by the Soho segment. There isn't
much of a price differential between metro and Belgaum prices, but
the difference is that plenty of bundling-web cameras, educational
CDs etc-is done to woo consumers. Kiran Karchi, Chief Executive,
Syscon Systems, the Compaq reseller, points out that all-in-ones
(printers, scanners, copiers) are also selling well. ''More people
are interested in branded items today because their buying power
has increased and also because there are various finance schemes
on offer.''
The equity cult is fast spreading in Belgaum
amongst an interesting mix of the retired and the youth. India Bulls,
Kotak, Karvy, Shriram Investment are present along with four BSE
sub-brokers, and Karvy, which has some 975 clients, does an average
turnover of Rs 75 lakh a day. ''Trading is becoming more common,
and investors are becoming more familiar with the stockmarket lingo,
says Diwakar Nayak of Karvy, who has been into stockmarkets for
seven years, three of them in another town, Udipi.
Belgaum may have lost its pride of place over
the decades thanks in a large part to a still-simmering battle for
the town between Maharashtra and Karnataka-Marathi is spoken more
than Kannada, hence the demand that it be a part of Maharashtra.
But as more entrepreneurs begin grabbing new-found opportunities,
more doctors and engineers decide to stay back and explore the potential,
and more and more marketers exploit the burgeoning purchasing power
of the local people, Belgaum can still make up for the time lost
courtesy petty disputes.
-Brian Carvalho
Din There, Dun
That
Dehradun now has all the trappings of a town
on the move: big brands, bigger cars, and kingsize aspirations
DEHRADUN
|
Area: 37.17 sq. km
Closest metro: Delhi (250 km)
Population: 4.47 lakh (2001
census)
Primary constituents: Traders, students
Languages spoken: Hindi, English
Famous for: World-class educational institutes
Lasting impression: Warm and
friendly people; dazzling night sky resplendent with neon sign
boards of top-notch international and Indian consumer brands |
Some
250 km from Delhi lies the picturesque town of Dehradun, the capital
of the state of Uttaranchal. And if you're going there from a bustling
metro, things can appear quite serene. But make no mistake; Dehradun,
a town with a population of around five lakh, is witnessing a vast
change in its consumer landscape. It's a process that's been playing
out over the last few years, and in the evening the town is resplendent
with neon signboards of top-notch consumer brands, giving an almost
surrealistic feel.
So, what has changed in Dehradun? A lot, according
to locals. Says Pradeep Nath, a chartered accountant by profession
who also has interests in hotels and real estate: ''Over the last
four years, all big brands have come to Dehradun, in food as well
as other categories. Barista, Café Coffee Day and Domino's
are already here; McDonald's and Pizza Hut are also coming in. ''The
town is beginning to resemble Delhi nowadays,'' chips in Nath's
petite wife, Sangeeta, a dentist by profession.
By all accounts, Dehradun has not been immune
to the fast-spreading tentacles of consumer brands to small-town
India, both Indian as well as international. Call it strategic coincidence,
but it's probably not a surprise to see the famed health centre,
VLCC, on the first floor of the same building that houses a branch
of the pizza giant, Domino's Pizza. So you can gorge on calories
and shed them at the same time.
As far as brands go, it's difficult to miss
anything: in apparel, Levi's, Dockers, Wills Lifestyle, and Pantaloon;
in food, Barista, Domino's Pizza and Café Coffee Day; in
footwear, Reebok, Adidas and Nike; all the major mobile phone players
and private banks; and every make of car in India.
|
Resembling Delhi?: Closely, multi-brand
outlets in Dehradun sport all leading brands |
And yes, there's night life too in Dehradun,
with a couple of restaurants having small dance floors. That's a
boon to someone like Shivani Windlass, who came to Dehradun from
Chandigarh three-and-a-half years ago after getting married. Distressed
at the complete absence of night life then, she had a tough time
adjusting to the conditions, as it were. Now though, she's happier.
However, despite the obvious desire of every
brand of consequence to acquire a presence in Dehradun, certain
rumblings persist. Says Rahul Windlass, Shivani's husband and Director
(Operations), Windlas Biotech, ''Most leading brands are coming
in now, but our friends and we still prefer to go to Delhi for shopping.
That's because we get more variety there at the same price, even
for the same brand.'' Which is a pointer to the fact that though
large brands have sensed the potential of small-town India to bolster
their revenues, there's still probably an underestimation about
the level of awareness of the small-town consumer.
Fundamentals, though, are an issue. The sight
of the evening town, with the neon lights unable to display their
splendour for lack of power, is certainly not one for sore eyes.
Says Windlass, ''Uttaranchal is supposed to have surplus power,
but we still suffer power cuts every day.'' There are bright points
though, as Windlass concedes: "Law and order has improved.
Even three to four years back, it was common for businessmen to
receive death and extortion threats. I had to go to my office accompanied
by a gunman for many months. But not any more.''
Commerce, one supposes, thrives if the fundamentals
are right. And once commerce, in the form of glitzy consumer brands,
begins to make a mark on the consciousness of the customer, aspirations
rise. Sample this from Pradeep Nath: ''If there's anything I aspire
to, it's a Sony plasma TV, which is very expensive. It's not available
here, but if you place an order, it can be delivered within 15 days.''
Chances are, he's going to avail of the option sooner rather than
later.
-Alokesh Bhattacharyya
Wine, Burgers
And Song
They love Mitsubishi Lancer's global appeal,
self-confidently sip on the Vino and abhor the Versace and Gucci
fakes. They can afford to do so.
JALANDHAR
|
Area: 114 sq km
Closest metro: Delhi (350 km)
Population: 9 lakh (2001
census)
Primary constituents: Business class
Languages spoken: Gurumukhi, Hindi
Famous for: Textiles, leather goods, wooden products
Lasting impression: A 26-year-old
businessman in a Merc |
Father's
day sees a mad rush for Archies' galleries. Neat neon lights and
glow boxes advertise allegiance to urban shrines: draught beer,
jeans, sports gear, shoes, big screen TVs, DVDs, laptops, cars,
ice-creams, gift shops. The neon gods flashing include homegrown
names like Nibble, Body Hub ('For complete body solutions'), Knockout
Pub, Lorango, Oxford Hospital, Yankee Tunns, Baker's Inn. Then there
are the more familiar brands: Ebony, Wills Lifestyle Store, Lee,
Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Weekender, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Archies, Café
Coffee Day, Baskin Robbins... That's Jalandhar, whose 9 lakh or
so population is swinging to not just bhangra beats but the delightful
sound of ringing cash registers. Don't believe us? Read on...
Lifestyle Store Ebony Holdings' Jalandhar avatar
has some 20,000 identified regular customers, and has been registering
a 15 per cent year on year growth since inception in 2001. Customers
from the adjoining towns of Phagwara and Nawashahar constitute some
15 per cent of the customer base. Monthly business: Rs 1.5 lakh
per month, which rockets to Rs 6 lakh in the festive season.
Meet Surjeet Singh Gaba, who has a company
not very imaginatively titled Singh Land Mkt Pvt. Ltd. He owns one
Adidas showroom, one Weekender, one W store (for women), and a gallery
called Century Cottons. The four shops are clustered together, two
on the first floor and two on the ground in the Model Town market
area. Gaba estimates the total number of walk-ins per day at 300-400.
He sells around 150 pairs of Adidas a month in the Rs 1,000-6,000
bracket.
Let's now spend a few minutes at One Stop Shop,
which began as a gift shop in 1991. It switched to garments four
years later, and three years ago, the owners flagged off a second
shop, Over Take, which stocks brands such as Marks & Spencer,
Provogue, Lee Cooper, Spykar, Adidas, Nike (the highest- selling
brand here), Reebok, and Pepe, among others. Encouraged by monthly
sales figures of around Rs 70-80 lakh a month, R.K. Clothing Co.
(the company owning these stores) is putting up a Levis and Dockers
outlet next month.
|
Rising demand: Cafe Coffee Day with daily
sales of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 is opening another outlet soon
in Jalandhar |
Now why on earth is Jasveer Singh beaming, and
Vinod Kumar moping? Both have their respective businesses, and in
those businesses lies the answer to the contrasting moods. Singh
owns a newly-opened exclusive Lee outlet, the first for the town.
He also has a cable network business but diversified into branded
apparels because the ''market demands it''. Kumar for his part had
a tailoring shop for 10 years in Model Town. In 2000, he revamped
his shop to sell belts, purses, sunglasses perfumes, caps, inner
wear, shoes and a similar scramble of men's products. The brands
stocked include Calvin Klein, Versace, Gucci and Armani. Yet, Kumar
is looking for an exit option, as sales are dwindling. It isn't
as if consumers in Jalandhar don't want a Versace or a Gucci. It's
just that all his goods are fake. ''People want the real thing now,''
he laments.
That's because those people are sitting on
more cash today. A manager with one of the popular national banks
says his branch holds around Rs 40 crore in deposits. Individuals
depositing a couple of crores is a common occurrence, he adds. The
only foreign bank present in the city, Standard Chartered, opened
office opposite Narinder Cinema in G.T. Road last year, with asset-based
banking products, life insurance, and a total headcount of 15. Customer
acquisition? 0 to 5,000 in 12 months flat! Branch manager Rajneesh
Malhotra says a typical customer is below 40 years, and runs his
own business. Business clients include those in import-export, leather,
hand tools, and sports goods. Debit cards are a hot favourite. Housing
and auto loans are being introduced from July.
Northern Motors Pvt. Ltd., sole dealers in
Punjab for Hindustan Motors-Mitsubishi, averages sales of 15 to
20 cars a month. Some four units of the Lancer Invex petrol version
launched early this year have already been sold. Maninder Kaur,
marketing executive since 1998 with the showroom, says that the
crowd is becoming increasingly aware of the relative merits and
demerits of various makes and models. Adds Harminder Singh Rangar,
Manager, Automobile Division, Hindustan Motors. ''Our customers
fall in the 22-45 age group bracket, and love the Lancer's global
appeal as a racing car.''
Hyundai witnessed a 50 per cent growth last
year. Little wonder then, the company has two showrooms in Jalandhar-Kosmo
Hyundai and Goel Hyundai. Kosmo alone has walk-ins of 15-20 in a
day, and sells 200 vehicles in a month. The buyer is typically in
business, or the armed forces, if not a bank employee, says Ranjeet
Chauhan, Manager with Kosmo. The city has a potential for around
700 cars per month, 1,200 if the compact car segment is included,
he adds. The average age group of customers is between 30 and 40,
and most are repeat buyers, purchasing their second or third vehicle.
Chauhan says he knows customers who have bought one car a year every
year for the last three years!
Dominos Pizza-set up about three years ago-is
scouting for locations for two more outlets, says its 26-year old
manager Harwant Singh. He handles some 60 delivery orders and 125
takeaways daily. The outlet employs some 17 people; three of them
are girls working for pocket money. Nibedita Batra, a BCA second-year
student working with Singh, says she uses the money to buy clothes,
hang out and pay for college text books. Not in that order though!
The Café Coffee Day outlet in Jalandhar,
set up in June last year, has a floor area of 1,500 sq ft-plus and
caters to some 250 customers daily. That's daily sales of Rs 10,000
to Rs 15,000, says Amandeep Singh, manager. The coffee major is
coming up with a second outlet in BMC Chowk soon.
Families are very important in the scheme of
things for Yankee Tunns, a beer and wine pub. Of the 150 customers
he gets daily, owner Satinder Pal Singh says women find it fashionable
to sip wines. He also organises parties for families and school
children. The most requested items are burgers and pizzas, which
his customers have with Gilafi kebab. Wine and pizza may appear
a strange combination but when money talks, proprietors like Satinder
Pal can only take heed and oblige.
-Sudarshana Banerjee
Metro In The
Making
Being a seaport has always ensured prosperity
for Mangalore. Now an infotech boom promises to bring in newer,
bigger, money.
MANGALORE
|
Area: 834 sq. km
Closest metro: Bangalore (360 km)
Population: 3.98 lakh (2001
census)
Primary constituents: Business class, estate owners,
farmers, students
Languages spoken: Tulu, Konkani, Malayam, Urdu and English
Famous for: Tourist attraction
Lasting impression: The town
is sheltered by the Western Ghats on the east and bordered by
the azure waters of Arabian sea on the West |
In
terms of geographical size or population of Mangalore might not
match the other major cities of Karnataka like Bangalore, Hubli-Dharwad
or even a Mysore. But the sheer abundance of natural wealth and,
more than that, the entrepreneurial culture of the place, will ensure
that the per capita income in Mangalore would be the same as that
of any major metro.
Mangalore, with its seaport through which most
of the major import and export activities of Karnataka happen, is
a bustling town. Named after Mangala Devi, the goddess of good fortune,
Mangalore (the Portuguese corruption of the word) lies on the backwaters
formed by the Netravati and Gurupura rivers. The city has been historically
a ship-building centre.
The undulating terrain is blessed with abundant
rainfall, verdant greenfields, innumerable water falls, beautiful
beaches and rich variety of flora and fauna. The Mangalore port
is India's ninth largest in terms of cargo handled. 75 per cent
of India's coffee and a bulk of its cashew exports pass through
Mangalore. A number of industries like Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers,
Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals
are located here.
It is not just old economy either. B.V. Naidu,
Director of Software Technology Parks of India, Bangalore says that
software exports from Mangalore have rocketed by more than 38 per
cent last year, touching nearly Rs 456 crore. Infosys has a full-fledged
development centre at Kottara as do several other software players
including several local ones.
The city is a centre for business, trade, banking,
education and healthcare. Mangalore, which is the headquarters of
Dakisha Kannada district, is virtually called the cradle of the
Indian banking industry. Mangaloreans are also famous for their
ability to run the hotel business.
|
High on per capita income: Abundance
of natural wealth and the town's entrepreneurial culture explains
Mangalore's unprecedented boom in the recent times |
Mangalore is a cosmopolitan city with a mixture
of Christians, Hindus and Muslims almost in equal proportion. The
presence of Jesuit missionaries as well as numerous other educational
institutions has ensured 100 per cent literacy in the city. Simultaneously
influenced by both the big metros Mumbai and Bangalore, Mangalore
has managed to pick up the go-getting attitude of Mumbai and the
grace and style of Bangalore. While beedi barons, coffee, cashew,
cardamom, pepper, Arecanut estate owners form the old elite, the
infotech boom has led to an influx of new money. Given the fact
that Karnataka has been an energy-deficient state, Mangalore is
attracting huge investments in this sector given its hydro capacity
as well as the fact that a full-fledged port is located here. Over
the next four years, investments of around Rs 20,000 crore is likely
to be pumped in to create 4,300 MW of power generating capacity.
ONGC has announced that it is likely to set
up a 2,000 MW gas-based power plant in Mangalore. Even at Rs 3 crore
a MW, this project alone could draw Rs 6,000 crore. A 1,015 MW coal
fired power plant is being set up by the Nagarjuna Group at an estimated
cost of Rs 4,000 crore. The world's largest single barge mounted
power project of the GMR group is already operational at Tanir Bhavi.
Says Tony Fernandes, an Coffee exporter: ''Mangalore
is seeing unprecedented boom in spite of the fluctuations in the
prices of commodities and various cash crops. Mangaloreans have
always been commerce-oriented and are able to adapt to changes quickly.
That is why India's banking industry was born here.''
Little wonder that several auto showrooms have
cropped up, including Tribhuvan Motors which sells Fiat vehicles,
Standard Hyundai, Peninsular Honda, Cauvery Ford, and Frontline
Chevrolet.
An active nightlife with a number of pubs and
shopping malls exists. Says Arun Suvarna, an apparel trader at Saibeen
Complex, Lalbagh: ''Because of Portuguese influence for several
centuries and because it is port town with constant interaction
with outsiders, enjoying the good things of life comes naturally
to Mangaloreans. The latest craze is low waist jeans among teenage
girls.''
Ideal's ice cream parlour on Market Road is
spread over three floors and Prabhakar its proprietor claims it
is the largest in Asia. ''People here want to eat out and the average
income here is sufficiently large enough to indulge in it.'' Bangalore
had better watch out. Here comes Mangalore!
-Venkatesha Babu
Potholes And
Polaroid
Don't let the bad roads and bullock carts fool
you: Moradabad wants the good things in life, and people there can
pay for them.
MORADABAD
|
Area:34 sq. km
Closest metro: Delhi (155 km)
Population: 6.4 lakh (2001
census
Primary constituents: Exporters and small businessmen
Languages spoken: Hindi, English
Famous for: Brass handicrafts
Lasting impression: Showrooms
with all big brands |
At
first blush moradabad may not appear exactly what BT had in mind
when it decided to explore some of India's smaller towns. Mayank
Pathak, City Lead for Reliance Infocomm, hails from Bareilly, another
town in UP, makes no bones about what he thinks about Moradabad:
"Bareilly is much more happening," he shrugs.
But when money is not in short supply, life
can't be that bad now, can it? The town's economy revolves around
exports from its small-scale industries. Says S.M. Nasir, the owner
of a spectacles shop that sells Ray Ban, Polaroid and Police sunglasses:
"From Delhi to Lucknow, if there's one place where there is
money, it's Moradabad." Adds Mohammad Aqib, who runs an advertising
business. "Everything we need is available right here. "
If brands ranging from Levis to John Players
to Lee Cooper to Peter England, from Reebok to Rayban, and from
Samsung to Sony have tuned into Moradabad, Amit Gupta, 25, son of
a brass handicrafts exporter, explains why: "Most people here
are exporters, and many others are related to them. So if one person
starts an exports business, others naturally follow in his footsteps."
Gupta, incidentally, owns four cars, and has sauntered into the
local Maruti showroom to enquire about his next potential acquisition:
A Suzuki Grand Vitara.
|
Money matters: A relatively less-happening
small town, Moradabad has all leading brands thnaks to export-money |
The local automobile market is dominated by
Maruti, simply because no other car manufacturer has a dealership
at Moradabad. And its sales are on the rise. Compared to last fiscal
when it sold 721 cars, the first quarter of the current fiscal itself
has seen the dealer overshooting the target of 340 vehicles by 10
per cent. And the car that sells most here is not the entry-level
Maruti 800, but the Alto. As for television, sales of flat-screen
TVs outstrip the national average by a bit. According to Jaspreet
Singh, the local dealer in Samsung products, 25-30 per cent of all
TVs sold are flat-screen, compared to the national average of 10
per cent. With so much money around, banks are doing well also.
The branch manager of a leading private bank that started operations
in Moradabad in March 2003 says: ''We open on an average 500 new
accounts every month. '' Don't get fooled by those bad roads and
bullock carts: Moradabad has aspirations, and the purchasing power
to match.
-Alokesh Bhattacharyya
Pumping Up The
Volume
Air-conditioned paan shops, a three-screen multiplex
and a disco, Rajkot rocks, and the youth rule
RAJKOT
|
Area: 100 sq. km
Closest metro: Mumbai (761 km)
Population: 9.66 lakh (2001
census)
Primary constituents: Business class
Languages spoken: Gujarati, Hindi
Famous for: Kaba Gandhi no Delo, Rajkot Pedhas
Lasting impression: Garishly
painted buildings |
The
first thing that hits you about Rajkot after spending a few hours
there is that it's a pretty small town (that's why we're there,
right?). Nothing is more than 15 minutes away from anything! But
Rajkotians will tell you the town is gradually expanding. One of
the newer shrines of urbanisation, Cosmoplex-a three-screen multiplex-has
opened on the Rajkot-Kalawad Road, a good 20 minute ride from the
heart of the city. Cosmoplex also boasts a Food Zone, which serves
a variety of cuisines including Thai, as well as a Gaming Zone packed
with all the latest video games.
Rajkot is a proportionate mix of a wannabe
city and a small town, best represented by a horse ruminating in
the middle of a road with bumper-to-bumper traffic on either side-bang
in front of an ICICI Bank outpost! Other than Cosmoplex, other signs
of activity are more subtle, but they're there nevertheless. Options,
the first lifestyle store in the entire Saurashtra region, stays
open throughout the day, a departure from the '1-4 closed' routine
that people are used to. Lords Banquet Hall, which serves the perennially
popular 'Punjabi and Chinese' food, recently opened another eatery,
Temptations, to cater to the increasing demand for 'western food'
like pizzas and burgers. Big Bite, another fast food joint in the
city, is equally popular with the youngsters and the family crowd
alike.
It's not exactly easy to find signs of night
life in Rajkot, but then perhaps unlike a Trichy or a Moradabad,
you'll find them all right if you look in the right places. There's
a disco at Motel, The Village, on the outskirts of the city. Although
the restaurants are open till past midnight, there aren't too many
entertainment options for youngsters except for the pool parlours
that are pretty popular, and the occasional cyber café.
Rajkot has been a business city over the years,
with agriculture and agro-based products contributing substantially
to the economy. Over the years, people have been dabbling in shares,
but fixed deposits still remain the preferred investing option here.
ICICI Bank alone has eight ATMs in Rajkot, and HDFC Bank, three.
|
Bigger by the day: Food zones, such as
this one, and multiplexes are changing the face of Rajkot |
Rajkotians love to shop and this is apparent
when one looks at the shopping districts in the city. There are
a wide variety of plazas like Heera Panna or Pramukh Swami Arcade,
which house a multitude of shops selling products ranging from shoes
to gold to cellphone connections. The City Mall, the first mall
in the region, is barely a week old. Options, which is in the heart
of the city, houses brands ranging from Louis Philippe to Blackberrys
in menswear, to Omega and Rado and Swatch. Step inside, and you
could forget that you are in Rajkot.
One common observation everybody in the city
makes is that the spending power has increased over the past two
years. ''People, especially those exposed to life in big cities
are increasingly willing to spend money on premium products,'' says
Brijesh Mehta, General Manager, Options. ''They might not know how
to pronounce a brand, but that's not going to stop them from buying
it.''
Another reflection of increased spending is
that Rajkotians have been bitten by the travel bug, with Goa being
the favourite destination, especially during the Janmashtami week.
''For the past two years, people have also been also going abroad
a lot-mainly to the Far East,'' says Minesh Mathur of Sunshine Travels.
Add to this the tag of having travelled abroad and it is easy to
see why foreign destinations are so popular
-Priyanka Sangani
Pizza
Or Idle?
TRICHY
|
Area: 23 sq. kms
Closest metro: Chennai (320 kms)
Population: 7.46 lakh (2001
census)
Primary constituents: Businessmen, professionals, farmers,
students
Languages spoken: Tamil, English
Famous for: Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple
Lasting impression: Quaint mix
of tradition and modernity-old world commodity markets coexisting
with new retail formats |
Buy
an egg biryani and get a Chicken 65 free-if you thought bundling
freebies to entice consumers is a trick taught only in B-school,
you obviously haven't been to Tiruchirapalli or Trichy, the 23 square
mile town down south, 320 km from Chennai. The biryani-chicken combo
is the most unique selling proposition of this roadside restaurant
hugging the railway station.
Complementary Chicken 65 in Trichy is only
the first sight that jolts you into a state of attentiveness as
you make your way out of the railway station. Rickshaw drivers pulling
in for pizzas at the local outlets (there are no Pizza Huts or any
such chains), and maidservants on a Rs 500 wage packing Maggi noodles
(instead of idlis) for their kids make you realise there is something
about Trichy.
Famous for its temples laden with architectural
and sculptural marvels-Srirangam and Triuvanakoil are just two of
them-Trichy is a delightful mix of the traditional and the modern.
The flower bazaars, the commodity markets selling timber, jaggery,
pulses, textiles and a zillion other things, including chemicals
to make your own detergent coexist peacefully with 'Burma Bazaar',
an attractive grey market hub offering everything from 'imported'
phones to snazzy suitcases.
And then you have the private banks, the stockbroking
houses, the car showrooms, the multinational home finance firms,
the mobile phone service providers, and the ubiquitous ATMs. For
marketers Trichy is strategic because it is centrally located to
cater to the places deeper south. It has amongst the country's oldest
international airports (with daily flights to Sri Lanka), while
Kochi, Trivandrum, and Chennai provide further links to West Asia
and Singapore.
|
Slow, but steady: The Nilgiri's department
stores boast some 1,000 walk-ins a day |
ICICI Bank is the most pervasive, with four
branches. ARA Securities is the largest stockbroker in Trichy with
2,000 active members. Says N. Velleyen Srinivasan, Director, ARA
Securities: "There are 11 broking houses here. Awareness is
spreading." A single road with residential-cum-commercial constructions
on either side is dotted with eight ATMs. Honda has a showroom for
its four-stroke scooters and last fortnight, the first Hyundai showroom
opened up in Trichy. The office of Citi Financial is crowded, mostly
with home loan aspirants. "But they don't want credit cards
yet," shrugs T.P. Gopalakrishnan, Branch Manager at Citi Financial.
The Nilgiris department stores boast some 1,000 walk-ins a day,
which double over the weekend, but there aren't too many such supermarkets
to be seen.
Yet residents like K. Raghunathan, a leading
criminal lawyer, aren't satisfied with the infrastructure. The corporation
is strapped for funds, and taxes have shot through the roof without
any tangible benefits. There appears to be a yawning gap between
the monied few who build fancy apartments for investment purposes
and the majority. But you realise that awareness and aspirations
are rising when you hear the story about the maid contemplating
action against the government via the consumer redressal forum for
not giving free curriculum books that were promised to school children.
Another indicator: Trichy's largest gym has some 30 regular women
members!
-Nitya Varadarajan
Flying High
A conspicuous spot on an airline's radar screen,
and with a thriving software park, Vijayawada is headed for life
in the fast lane.
VIJAYAWADA
|
Area: 57.98 sq. km
Closest metro: Chennai (433 km)
Population: 8.25 lakh (2001
census)
Primary constituents: Business class, farmers, students
Languages spoken: Telegu, Urdu
Famous for: Temples, handicrafts
Lasting impression: People shopping
at 420 centigrade temperature |
If anything indicates
the growth being witnessed in small towns it is the fact that some
of these towns and cities are back on the aviation map. As I do
a quick scan, the first thing that hits me, is that even on a weekday,
the Air Deccan ATR 42 flight to Vijayawada from Hyderabad is nearly
full. There are, as yet, no five star hotels in the city. A number
of three star and budget hotels have however sprung up. Café
Coffee Day has set up shop on M.G. Road next to a branch of ICICI
Bank. It is packed even on a weekday evening with a young crowd.
Sriramulu Reddy, a 20-year-old student of Loyola college, says ''Vijayawada
is changing at a fast pace. Everybody sees things on television
and wants similar things.'' Twirling her Nokia 2100 Chitra Devarakonda,
a friend of Sriramalu and a student of Monsal Institute of Fashion
Technology, says: ''Earlier people would not consider courses like
fashion technology. Even hanging out with boys was considered an
aberration.''
|
Boom, boom, boom: Consumerism has picked
up here in the recent years |
N.S. Siddiah, the officer in charge of the local
Software Technology Parks of India, says with pride that software
exports from Vijayawada have increased by 50 per cent in the last
year, admittedly from a small base of Rs 2 to Rs 3 crore in 2003-04.
Shoppers throng the various commercial establishments well past
9 pm. Various hawkers, shopkeepers and hoteliers compete for custom
late into the night. The proprietor of Modern Hotel where we end
up wants to know more about Bangalore's Darshinis and says: ''People
now don't have time and we want to follow the same fast-food model
to serve our clientele.'' Clearly Vijayawada appears just about
ready to switch to life in the fast lane.
-Venkatesha Babu
|