SARAVANA STORES: "GET TO KNOW THE MAGNIFICENT ASCENT OF SARAVANA STORES

"the Magnificent Ascent of Saravana Stores The Mas(s)ter Retailer: An Inspiration For All Retailers - Big & Small"

The Very Name Saravana Stores, a house hold name today, could draw several lakhs of loyal Customers, every single day, to its shopping outlets, with the Customers feeling quite comfortable & immensely satisfied with their shopping experience. The Mas(s)ter Retailer who the Mass trusts & follows quite deservingly. The Four decade plus strength of the patronage of this ever-growing Customer base is only a standing testimony that Saravana Stores Customers, who neither do unduly bothered about having to jostle through the shopping crowd during their visits almost everytime, nor being serviced by the simple unpretentious, honest, and down-to earth young boys & girls employed here from the rural & remote villages of the state. Why would their Customer complain, after all, when they get more than their money’s worth on almost everything they buy here, everytime?

The Name Saravana Stores, it is believed, captured the attention and allured even the Ambani’s of Reliance & Biyani’s of the Future group, to undertake discrete visits to their shops at Ranganathan Street, T.Nagar, Chennai, to try and understand the magic of their business success before they decided to venture into the Retail business later.

The Name Saravana Stores, continues relentlessly to inspire the hearts & the minds of many budding entrepreneurs who aspire to make it big in this retail business in our state, why, even in our country, we can dare to say!

Let Us Now Get To Know The Milestones, The Real Story, The Dream Run Of SARAVANA STORES:

Founder: Shri Shanmuga Sundara Nadar

The Super Success story of Saravana Stores has its humble beginning in the year 1970 at Chennai, founded by a Team, consisting of father Mr.Shanmuga Sundara Nadar, with a capital raised from a successful business stint at Ceylon(Sri Lanka), joined by his sons from his native, a little known small village called Panicka Nadar Kudiyiruppu(PNK) in Tuticorin District, M/s Yogaratnam, Rajaratnam, Navaratnam, and Selvaratnam, setting foot & shop at Ranganathan street, Mambalam(later renamed as Thyagaraya Nagar, T.Nagar for short), in Chennai.

The original name of the shop was “Shanmugam Stores” operating from an area of 720 sq.ft., at door no.36, Ranganathan Street , originally selling only household vessels made of aluminium, brass, copper, iron, and stainless steel, with a staff strength of only 10.

By the year 1976, with the business expanding, the second shop under the name “Saravana Stores” (the name that became later, almost a synonym for T.Nagar – a prime retail market hub) at door no.13, Ranganathan Street – a three floored building operating from a floor space of about 6000 sq.ft. area, selling household vessels with a staff strength of 60.

In 1978, the entry to textiles business was made under the name “Shanmugam Textiles”, at door no. 36, Ranganathan Street, with the floor space of the business expanding to 1500 sq.ft.

Around this time, Dr.Y.Navaratnam deciding to pursue his professional interest left the team, with the rest to carry on the business interests with even more zeal and steam.

By the year 1983-84, Saravana Stores business had grown, operating now on a floor space of about 18,000 sq.ft. area, spread over a three storeyed building.

April, 1987, saw the birth of another shop, selling textiles with the focus on sarees, situated at door no.45, Ranganathan Street. By September, 1987, other textile items got included with the business growing, and by the year 1990, the shop included the readymade textile items.

The year 1993 saw the commencement of the Jewellery division at 14, Ranganathan Street. They say in Sales: If you can’t compete…at least corrupt and confuse the customer. That was experienced with the induction of this jewellery division. With the growth & the popularity, came along some disparaging & damaging remarks, and a negative propaganda about the quality of the gold jewellery sold by Saravana Stores, raised in the marketplace by some vested interests, to thwart and confuse the customers who were offered some excusive customer friendly deals such as offering gold in Chennai at Bombay rate. Undaunted, but responded to this situation with a masterly stroke! How? By being a pioneer and installing a Gold Carat Meter(Unheard-of in this part of the country at that time) at their jewellery shop premises in 1994. An open challenge made to anybody to check & confirm the true quality of the gold sold which was declared to be 91.6 purity (which was not conformed by even by some big names around that time!). Thus it amply proved by Saravana Stores, that an unjustified criticism can also be a blessing in disguise!

With the expansion of textile goods business during the year 1994, warranted the addition of door no.44, Ranganathan Street, and for the first time products such as bags & footwear items were included.

The year 1996 saw the jewellery division getting bigger & better, and alongside Saravana Stores experimenting with purified bottled water business, setting up sweets & savories sections, and opening restaurants offering food & refreshments at very affordable & attractive rates.

The year 1998 saw the addition of adjoining door no.43, to accommodate the business expansion of their existing operations of textile business at door nos.44 & 45, Ranganathan Street.

In the year 2003, hitherto jointly running the business together with great unity & success as three brothers, Mr.S.Selvaratnam, the youngest of the three, decided to part ways, and moved ahead by setting up business under a new brand name Saravana Selvaratnam with his shops at Usman Road, and Ranganathan street. He also retained the erstwhile jewellery business operating at door no.14, Ranganathan Street, which was renamed as Saravana Selvaratnam Jewellery.And after the demise of Mr.S.Selvaratnam in the year 2005, his only son Mr.S.Saravanan took over the management and running them successfully.

With the next generation waiting in the wings, the grown up sons of Mr.S.Yogaratnam, namely M/s Y.Pallakkudurai, Y.Shanmugadurai, Y.Pondurai, Y.Aruldurai and the only son of Mr.S.Rajaratnam, Mr.R Sabapathy, who have grown under the tutelage of the successful elders in the family, deciding to test water, expand the business on their own merit, using their individual skills & the talents, with the blessings of the elders.

Thus the year 2004 saw the birth of an exclusive jewellery stores, a 7-storeyed, Saravana Stores Thanga Nagai Malligai at 115, Usman Road, under the management of Dr.Y.Aruldurai.

Mr.Y.Shanmugadurai took over the management of the business operating at door no.13, Ranganathan Street(popularly known as Saravana Stores vessels shop) and continued with its traditional style he believed in.

In the same year 2004, a diversified activity, from the main line business, a brain-child of Mr.R.Sabapathy, saw the emergence of delicious ‘Jamaai’ brand icecream , with a full fledged factory at Padapai and marketing office at T.nagar, under the new entity Saravana Stores Foods (P) Ltd.

In the year 2006, New Saravana Stores, a seven floored building opened at 129, Usman Road, near Panagal park, under the management of Mr.Y.Pondurai.

In the year 2008, another seven-storeyed, jewellery & textiles shop, Saravana Stores Gold Palace opened at Ranganathan Street, near Mambalam railway station, under the management of Mr.Y.Pallakudurai, who was managing successfully the division selling household provisions, sweets & savories, fruits & vegetables from the adjoining building.

• Saravana Stores, despite not being a national level player, with their business operations limited to Chennai alone, more than quarter million Customers visit their outlets every single day, and the annual turnover of the group as a whole however is likely to exceed 25 billion rupees. Indeed, in many sense, the Indian answer to the Wal-mart & the Tescos of the world!

• Have scaled the heights of retail business success in the most unassuming manner, with the culmination of sheer determination, clear vision, pursued mission, believed in tradition!

• Have always worked its way up in the journey so far, learning the hard way, without abusing its position and premier status in the business.

• Have remained a willing contributor, done it all along, donated quite liberally to various societal causes, besides being a good corporate citizen. However, enroute, weathered many challenges, unfair accusations, faced unjust criticisms from envious quarters in the business circle, but remained unfazed, never have made any attempt to contest or fight, or hog the limelight or brag about its commendable feats achieved.

• They fervently believe in divinity and the power above, and never want to rest in the laurels, as they stride along with a mission full of passion, and many miles to go before they would sleep(if ever!!!).

• The Men behind Saravana Stores choose to be the men of few words, for they seem to fervently practice the adage:”Action speaks louder than words.” And, Their Actions Quite Loud Enough & Large Enough For The Whole World To Look Up And Applaud!!!

The year 2007, saw the 20th year anniversary celebration of Saravana Stores (Textiles), carried out on a grand scale, to acknowledge the fabulous customer patronage enjoyed by the organization, at 45, Ranganathan Street, which was under the management of M/s S.Rajarathnam & R Sabapathy, with the building getting the necessary facelift, fully revamped & renovated, with lakhs of customers joining the 3-Day celebration and winning prizes.

Just the mention of the word T.Nagar, in Chennai, pop-up the word ‘Saravana Stores’ to the minds of million households, who were served with the RIGHT PRODUCT, with the RIGHT QUALITY, at the RIGHT PRICE for over forty long years. The name Saravana Stores & its location T.Nagar were so entwined and synonymous, with the former having contributed immensely in establishing T.Nagar, into a most sought-after commercial hub, sizzling with retail business success 24x7 all 365 days in Chennai.

Not wanting to bank & rest on the comforts of T.Nagar, which was already bursting in the seams by the second, besides not wanting to get constrained in actualizing his dream & vision of moving over into a Super Stores League, emboldened Mr.R Sabapathy dare to think beyond T.Nagar. This resulting in creation & launching of a classy looking towering Ten-storeyed shopping extravaganza Saravana Super Store, at Door no.10, Purasaivakkam High Road, Chennai 600 007 - truly the flagship Super Store from the house of Saravana Stores, shopping space spread over 1,20,000 plus sq.ft. area, with the products available from fresh fruits & vegetables to high tech electronics & home appliances - an awesome range of textile & an exclusive silk materials section, to array of fancy goods, everything is available in different floors; the building is equipped with a choice of staircase, lifts, and escalators for ease of shopping and customer mobility from floor to floor. With comforts & conveniences for customers in mind, provided with various facilities that includes a fully automated multi-level car parking(First one in the country at this level) and exclusive space for 2-wheelers parking. To add to the shopping pleasure & experience of customers of Saravana Super Stores, a wide range of food & refreshments available within the premises to ensure a delightful & delicious shopping experience for the whole family. Saravana Super Stores provides direct employment with in-house on-going professional training, learning & development given by experts to over 1000 people, and indirect employment to many more to serve the 50,000 plus customers who visit the Super Stores every single day from 9am in the morning.

This fabulous growth & awe-inspiring success journey of Saravana Stores, which is spreading its wings, in different product segments, under different styles of management has in its journey en-route, has accomplished many admirable feats, beginning with varied products under one roof being offered to a wide range of Customers; having earned the trust of the cost conscious middle class segment by ensuring they get complete value for their money spent with no-frills attached.

Not to forget, the role played in fulfilling the social obligation as a responsible corporate citizen, by providing meaningful employment & training, with food & accommodation, to many thousands of, especially, the needy rural youth with poor educational & economical family background. The employment given with no religious or caste discrimination, besides, was never confined to just the backward districts of the state of Tamilnad, as one can see a national integration at work with people from other states given equal opportunities as well.

In a nut shell…some proud points to ponder: