Weaving tradition with modernity

The beginning: All great things have a humble beginning, and Nalli is no different. The story began in 1928, with a small room in Kanchipuram. Nalli Chinnaswami Chetty was an innovative, hard working weaver, who started his small business of silk sarees in Kanchipuram. While big weavers were in other parts of Kanchipuram, he chose to live in Chetti Street leading to the Varadarajaperumal temple. The room in his house, attracted pilgrims mostly from Madras. They placed orders with him. His clientele increased as he became famous for quality goods and timely delivery of products. When orders poured in, he opened a stock point near Mambalam railway station.  It later served as a sales depot too. His friends suggested to keep a shop, even if it be small, in the upcoming commercial area. He then moved to the present Nageswaran Street, not far from his depot-cum-house on the Mangesh Street. It was, Nalli Kuppusami Chetty, who thought to develop the 200 sq.ft, main shop to several hundred sq. ft area and branch out into multiple locations as an international brand. The driving forces behind the growth of Nalli is credited to their thirst for delivering quality products and good customer care. Mr. Nalli Kuppusami Chetty reveals, “I was fortunate to develop it, as the third generation entrant. Now the fifth generation has also joined.”

Response of customers: It is the response from the customers which has helped Nalli to spread its business. Mr. Chetty believes quality, fair price, a variety of designs, and pleasant treatment to all customers are the secret behind Nalli’s growing customer base.     

USP of Nalli’s customer care: When you step into any Nalli store, irrespective of the class, cast, age, sex and status of the customers, all are welcomed with a smile and each customer gets equal attention from the trained Nalli staff. As Mr. Chetty informs, “Our customer relationship is one-to-one and very friendly”. In the words of Mr. Chetty, any big entrant cannot establish his business if he lacks good customer care skills. He believes customer care does not only mean giving a smile; it is something more than it. “The customers are satisfied with our quality goods and friendly treatment,” reveals Mr. Chetty.  

Keeping pace with market trends: To keep pace with modern trends in silk sarees, Nalli believes in constantly updating the design and manufacture of silk sarees, so that their TG get what they desire. As Mr. Chetty says, “We are simultaneously traditional and modern. We have been replenishing tradition with modernity at every step, every season, every year. But the moorings are also in tact”.  

Adopting technology: Because Nalli belongs to the handloom sector, technology is used only for design reproduction purposes, but actually weaving is preferred by hands. Computers are used for inventory and billing works in Nalli. As Mr. Chetty says, “The hands that weave matter in our business, ours is an art, not a science”.  

On business expansion plan: Nalli silk sarees has 12 branches all over the world, of which 10 are in India and two are abroad. As per Mr. Chetty, they have more than one branch in many cities. In Delhi, itself they have two branches, both in high streets. Mr. Chetty shares his thoughts on acquiring more retail space by saying, “We will be opening more branches in a few more big towns shortly, as customers across the country eagerly look forward to our presence in such places”.  

Word-of-mouth predominates: As a traditional retailer, Nalli believes in word-of-mouth publicity more than any other form of promotional activity. They believe that their satisfied customers are their strongest medium to spread their brand name. “We think of only quality products and customer service. The rest of the business is taken care of by these two concerns and customers are very happy with our word-of-mouth publicity,” shares Mr Chetty.

Advice to young, traditional retailers: “Expand business by courtesy, true statement about your products, pleasant treatment to your customers. Don’t compromise on quality and don’t tell lies to customers under any circumstances. Your life depends on the total satisfaction of the customer, work for it,” are the pearls of wisdom from Mr. Chetty to young entrepreneurs.