A few years ago, an enterprising individual had a vision to start a store that offers quality nightwear to one and all. So, in the year 1996, in the city of Rajkot, Tirupati Nightwear came into being. Comfort and a huge variety and range are what make the store a unique one.
Imagine a store that exclusively stocks only sleepwear and loungewear; it is like a breath of fresh air as you don’t have to deal with a regular lingerie outlet that deals with everything…from innerwear to active wear. Besides, mostly in such stores, there is a limited variety of nightwear available in every way. That is where stores such as Tirupati Nightwear score over these regular ones.
Started by Mr Shailesh Vithlani, the brainchild behind the store, Tirupati Nightwear is located in the heart of Rajkot city. The story of this unique store started in 1996 and was an idea, which was out-of-the-box. The concept was to deal exclusively with nightwear and loungewear, which was unheard of 22 years ago. After the phenomenal success of the first store, they opened a second one in the year 2016 on Dr Yagnik Road. And since, it has been unstoppable with a mix of interesting experiences and newer ones everyday.
There’s also no difference in the products offered at both stores. Customers get the same items at the same cost at both the places and they have never needed to run from one shop to another to buy something, which they cannot get in one store. They cater to all groups and stock every possible style, which has been their forte for long now. However, they do stress on comfort, which is an integral part of their stylish sleepwear. They have cold shoulders tops, shrugs accompanying co-ords, pyjamas, Bermudas for men, shorts, lace trim detailed slips, and more. There’s a very wide range of T-shirts for men as well. Also, they have all sizes going up to 7XL. Tirupati Nightwear believes in offering its customers the very best and has loyal ones flocking back to it time and again.
LNL in conversation with co-owner Siddharth Shailesh Vithlani about the concept of the store and future plans
How would you define your store in Rajkot?
We define our store as a place where one gets gratified by the comfort at modest prices and where the customers are given priority over anything else. We are in this business since 1996. We have served more than 20,000 unique customers. We stock brands such as Sweet Dreams, LittlePink, Valentine, Sonari, Melodie, Sukanya, Lady Beauty, Sweetnight. We also have our own label and we manufacture female nightwear too.
The brands we have for men and children are, Sweet Dreams, Valentine, Matrics, Chromozome, Inter Creations, Night Angel, Good Night. For children, we cater to the age group of 1 to 16 years for both boys and girls.
Do tell us the space in sq ft and the number of people (staff) in the store including the manager.
First branch was at Dharmendra Road (Rajkot) and is spread over 350 sq ft. It consists of 5 staff members and one more manager, so totally there is staff strength of six. The second branch, located at Yagnik Road in Rajkot itself is spread over 400 sq ft and has 4 staff members and one manager, totalling the staff strength to five.
Do tell us about the price range of the products.
Nightwear for women is priced between INR 600 to INR 3,000, for men it is INR 650 to INR 2,500 and for children it is priced at INR 500 to INR 1,200.
Do tell us about the interiors and decor of the store. Also give us details of Visual Merchandising?
Coming to visual merchandising, we have several three dimensional displays in order to maximise the sales. These displays are arranged in such a manner that any person passing by can have a look easily. Talking about the experience, it has always been attractive for the customers and beneficial for us. Coming to the decor of the store, the colour scheme is white and to enhance the entire look we have used grey wallpaper. There is a mannequin inside the store and to highlight it, a small yellow light has been used. We have four mannequins in both our stores and all of them are imported. Overall, the environment looks very fresh in the day as well as at night.
What aspects of retail concepts were kept in mind while designing this store? Have you been able to achieve these objectives?
Certainly, we believe in achieving…be it our customers’ contentment or the objectives we have set. Well, one of the major aspects, which we kept in mind while setting our first store was the area of the city. The store is situated in the heart of the city. Talking about the inside of the stores, the interiors are mostly the same and we have a trial room for customers and a customer-friendly atmosphere is what they love and is what we give.
What is the philosophy behind Tirupati Nightwear?
The philosophy behind the stores is just as simple…providing best facilities to customers, providing them with a friendly atmosphere, providing better options than online shopping, achieving the goals set and making new ones as the sun rises every day.
What is the retail strategy planned and how it is being implemented to reach out to your customers?
We at Tirupati Nightwear believe to be technologically updated. We reach to our customer through various mediums like SMS, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and our own website. A customer who has visited our store once is registered with our system and gets regular updates about offers and discounts.
Our customers who are following us on social media platforms get updated on new stocks and events held. We are also planning to sell on various marketplaces Like Myntra, Jabong and Amazon soon.
What makes for a good retail environment and how has this changed with the advent of online shopping?
A good retail environment is formed when you have good relations with your buyers. Online shopping has become exponential and has affected every retail field in a very drastic way; but, as mentioned earlier we have maintained very good relations with our customers; they buy what they SEE. Keeping that in mind online shopping has its own disadvantages, which we happen to take benefit of and provide our customers—this is TRUST.
How are you able to integrate the offers online with that on the offline channel? How big a challenge is this?
Well, the answer to this question is, we have been in this field for quite a long time now. We can say, online shopping was not even given a thought while our business was boosting here and if Internet is as much important, then we aren’t a step back even there. We have an official account online where people from all over the world can view the diverse range.
What are your return policies when it comes to retail?
We have a good 7-day return policy; products once bought can be returned OR exchanged anytime within seven days. In this period, customers can anytime step into the store without any hesitation and get it exchanged or returned.
What are your plans going ahead?
Hereafter, we plan to set up more stores and we would love to grant franchises in different cities. Success is what we crave for and triumph is what we look up to.
