Great Business at your terms

I wrote the success story of City Girl five years ago in this very column, and I am mentioning this shop again. This time it is with a picture.
What happens at the entrance of City Girl, a shop located in Lokhandwala Complex in Mumbai’s western suburbs, Andheri, selling ready made garments is the stuff of Robert Ripley’s `Believe It or Not`.
It needs to be recorded in the Guinness book of World Records, if not in Limca Book of Records (the Indian version of the original). On weekends, especially during festival season, people queue up outside the shop waiting for their turn to be admitted. City Girl permits five customers at a time!
It is true that successful business, whether a hotel or a theatre showing a super hit, attracts crowd who don’t mind waiting for hours to get their fix.
This happening interests me because City Girl is located on a road that has more than a dozen shops selling ready made garments, and they are not doing half as well. Over the years some have even closed down the business but this shop has expanded. My friend Deepak Gupta, who owns the shop, has purchased the shops adjacent to him and has tripled the size of the shop.

Business at your terms

Gupta does business on his terms.
The prices at City Girl are fixed and you will never see the boards proclaiming sales and discounts, like at the other shops on the same road.
You are not allowed to try the garments for size!
Once you buy something and pay for it, City Girl will not accept it back. (This is in sharp contrast to the Malls who have an exchange policy, and who are gobbling the business of smaller shops in Mumbai.)
You have to leave any carry bag outside the shop.
Yet, people flock to this shop. The theory, of course, is the same that one sees in the game of seduction. We are always attracted to those who are attractive to other people. Those who are already surrounded with admirers, get more admirers. This formula applies to the fast food joints on the roadside, and to every business.
It has applied to City Girl also.
I said it five years ago, and I’m saying it again. It is the Feng Shui of this shop that has worked for him. Right from the colors on the sign board to the placement of the cash counter, the position of the counters to the Feng Shui in his home.

Feng Shui Boosts Chef’s career

I have had several Sailors getting boost in their career thanks to Feng Shui, but this is the story of a Chef who is going to sea now. The Feng Shui way.
Kashmira drops in at my office. She has already given me the good news but now gives a detailed account of her Feng Shui experience. She now wants the symbol of passion.
My records show that she consulted me in May this year, and it has been about six months.
Rustom got his promotion.
“Rustom was a trainee chef and got promoted to become a coveted Chef des Parties within a fortnight of placing your peak in his career corner.” She told me and added, “Even before the celebratory mood dimmed, he got his dream job. He has been appointed Executive Chef on one of the ships of Royal Caribbean International and may even be a part of the celebrity cruises!”
This job is a dream come true for Rustom who loves sea.
The Visa formalities are over and remain a bit of red tape at Mumbai Police. Rustom is set to travel.
Kashmira also tells me his love story and her desire to attract more passion in her bedroom. She leaves with the symbol of passion, promising to let me know about her date with passion.

Note: The right of privacy is sacred for me. The names of the people mentioned in the diary are usually changed to protect the identity of my clients. The real names are mentioned with the consent of people mentioned.The picture accompanying the article is only for representational purpose.

Write to Mohan Deep