Capturing legacy along with contemporary designs: PNG

The 6th generation entrepreneur Saurabh Gadgil, Manging Director, P. N. Gadgil Jewellers Pvt. Ltd believes that jewelry market is evolving and liberating from the constraints of region and communities. 

How would you analyse the jewelry market in India and what changes have you observed in past few years?

Last 3 years have been a massive change on the jewelry front. There are a lot of trends that are going beyond their state and are trying to be pan-India. In last three years, with companies going public and pan India, Indian companies going overseas. So it has been exciting time for jewelry industry. It has been primarily driven because India is a growing economy. People’s fashion and dates of design have been change towards something if which is variable, liked by anyone despite of the cast and community.

So the boundaries of north Indians & south Indians have broken completely. If you look at a typical north Indian wedding, you can find people wearing south Indian jewelry, mix and match jewelry etc which has bought consumer to a bigger market. Also that is what has made various players to go to different states.

What is your stand on online store?

We equally focus on online as it is an important medium. The online may not covert the decision but it will surely influence the decision. So, we have very robust, fully-functional eCommerce site where we sell jewelry as well as courier. So it is also going to be our area of focus for the current year.

Talking about store of PNG, what is their specialty?

Legacy stands for somebody who has been there for years and years. The trust, legacy and emotional connect is what makes them special. More has been our masters in design, as we have access to the old designs making of which is not possible in today’s time.

That is what makes us a class apart from the new lot of jewelers. Plus what is more special, is the emotional connect we have with customers over generations. I think this is going to be the entire strength of the brand.

What are the factors you bank upon for success of your stores?           

Besides vicinity, the store is stocked with right kind of merchandise. In the mean time we do proper study of market and consumers. We ensure that the market requirement is fulfilled by the merchandise in the store.

Next is the store layout which is simple with which we want to ensure that the customer experience is fast and good one. Also we give proper training to our staff where the customer feels like family.

We focus to make shopping a pleasurable experience where the customer buys what he wants, in the shortest possible time. We have an entire team to monitor merchandising, design etc.

What according to you is an ideal location for any store?

An ideal location is chosen on parameters such as parking facility, safety and proximity from the city.

With reference to Real Estate, which is your preference – high streets or malls?

We focus more on high streets and except one store located at Phoenix Mall, rest 4 store are located in high streets of Pune. The flagship store located at Laxmi Road, wherein the rentals are between 30-45 lakh per sq ft, is one of the plush areas of the city.

What are the future avenues for the brand?

To strengthen the brand and make it a national brand, PNG plans to enter markets of Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka in the coming financial year and add 15 more stores in year 2015 in India & overseas. We are also looking to expand in California, thus talking the tally to 25 stores in 3 countries i.e. India, USA & the Middle East by the end of this year. To be more diversified, we have started diamond manufacturing factory near Andheri East so as to have better control over the product and this year we have target to increase the diamond vs. gold ratio to 20:80 from the present 10:90. In future we may come up with an IPO as well.