Sizeable story

The apparel proclaimed the man. Receiving "The Retail Entrepreneur of the Year” Apex Award 2007-08 from the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) on July 9, 2008 was Hydera­bad’s Capt Kayarmin Pestonji of Cherma’s retail chain of readymade garments.

With malls mushrooming across India and the retail revolution surging ahead in the last few years, CMAI honors outstanding performers in apparel manufacturing, marketing and supply chain management. Stores like Shoppers Stop and Pantaloon (Retail) India Limited, pioneers in the field, have been recipients of the Apex Awards since they were instituted in 2005-06.

The Award was presented at the Grand Hyatt in Bombay during the 49th National Garment Fair. Kishore Biyani (Pantaloons, now Future Group) and Raheja (Shoppers Stop) are national players. Our Group (Cherma’s) is based only in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It feels great to be put on the same podium — it is indeed a proud moment for Cherma’s. There were so many factors which were taken into consideration, so many retailers who were contenders for this Award,” Pestonji remarks. The Group chairman particularly thanked his wife Gool who has stood steadfast not just behind him but has proactively led from the front right from inception of the business in the early 1980s. He also thanked his brother Dadafarid for giving them their first break.

"My whole family traveled to Bombay for the Award ceremony,” Pestonji says with pride. Eldest daughter Cherazad looks after the factory, Maniza looks after sourcing with Gool who is still very active. Jasmine has done computer engineering and is currently doing, as is her brother Kaizad, an MBA at the University of Warwick in the UK. "They should be back by next September,” says their father.

Capt Kayarmin Pes­- tonji with "Retail Entrepreneur of the Year” Award;

At a function on July 31 celebrating Cherma’s achievement, Pestonji narrated the sizeable story. "Necessity is the mother of invention. My wife and I were both from the working class. I was a flying instructor with the Andhra Pradesh Flying Club, Gool was working in Canara Bank.” Gool quit her job when their first child was born. "To cover this gap in our income, she started selling my brother Dadafarid’s export surplus garments in 1978, under the name Babson’s, ranging in price from five rupees to Rs 20.” The next 27 months saw positive response from customers. "Hence we decided to have a permanent shop. Cherma’s (the name being derived from the first letters of their then two children) was born on August 1, 1980 in a 350 sq ft showroom at Abids in Hyderabad with seven employees. In 1981, our Abids showroom became the first readymade garments departmental store in the country, covering over 6,000 sq ft.”

A second showroom in Secunderabad spread over 15,000 sq ft was followed by more outlets, the latest being in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada in 2007, taking their total floor area to over 1,70,000 sq ft, Pestonji narrated. Cherma’s retails garments — casual, western, ethnic and traditional — for all age groups and stocks leading national brands.

Cherma’s started its own manufacturing facility in 1985. In 2000, they set up an export unit covering 2,00,000 sq ft, producing three million garments. "In 2003, Cherma’s started another manufacturing unit for our domestic sales, spread over 60,000 sq ft producing one and a half million garments annually. The Group has given employment to over 5,000 people directly and nearly the same number indirectly. Today we are completing 28 years of service to our customers…We faced quite a few obstacles (which) slowed us down but could not restrain our growth,” the chairman said (see "Weaving a fortune,” Parsiana, December 7, 2005). Cherma’s continues to be the largest readymade garments departmental store in the country, states a press note from the company.