This was once a small 300sqft store selling sports jerseys, exclusively. It was then located next to hotel traffic jam (which doesn't exist now), diagonally opposite to ambika appalam depot, and on the narrow sidewalk on Sardar Patel Road. I still remember passing through this store (back in 2001, on the way to my tuition classes), wondering if the store will ever get any business. After a couple of years, once I saw they were tearing down the store. I felt really bad... But I was relieved, when I came to know that they are just relocating and that too within Adyar. they moved to a bigger place, a whole floor, almost 1000-1500 sqft. Now they had diversified into many other products as well. casuals, sports wear, sports posters, sports merchandise etc. They've started to get good business. the Transformation Process was in Progress (from a lame store to a super store). Located right outside the main gate of IIT Madras, the new store now had a very appealing look and it actually attracted a lot of people, mainly youth, that too, guys, from all over the city.
A couple of days back, i went to the store again. and this visit was after a long time. Unbelievable!!!! the store is now 10 times bigger. the amount/range/variety of the stuff they have now is just amazing. the store is now as big as 'pothys' or 'chennai' silks or 'saravana stores' (brammandamai!), but only better....
Trust me, I am not marketing for Dollars and Pounds here! they're not gonna pay me even a penny. just that, as a regular customer, I am thoroughly impressed with the transformation the store has gone through!
Now they have 3 floors with separate sections for everything that you can imagine. Football merchandise, Rock band t shirts, Normal casuals, formal wear, accessories (a lot of them), gifts, showcasing items, Bikers gear, summer wear, winter wear. and all in the trendiest possible designs, and in amazing varieties.
I wouldn't say that they have completely diversified their business. that will only make them less unique. They still have that niche status compared to the other stores in the city.
A special mention to the ambiance of the store: Apart from the 'soft music playing small speakers' and the surveillance cameras installed at every corner of the building, which is a new thing, they have done a lot of other architectural additions, which makes you want to spend a lot of time inside the building. Like the hanging 'Dummy Tank', 'Jet plane'. the cloths arranged neatly on a real 'Jeep' (obviously one without an engine :)), the power bike. and the stairs made of solid steel mesh, below which you can see water running.
The target segment is obviously the youth, of age group 18 to 30. and not more than that. It doesn't matter whether you are a spoilt brat spending your dad's money, or a busy professional who shops on every payday of every month, or a normal person who just likes to shop for the heck of it. there's something for you in this store if you belong to this particular age group! As a normal person who doesn't like to shop that often, I kind of wanted to own each and everything in the store.
Bottom line: If you are a 'chennai'ite, this shop is a must visit.
