From Zero to 500 crores in 5 years, the story of 1- India Family Mart

1. Please tell us about 1-India Family Mart, who is the target customer? Which categories do you operate in?

1-India Family Mart was established with a vision of providing fresh and affordable fashion and general merchandise to its customers. It is a Value Retail Chain operating in category B, C and D towns.
The company began operations in 2013 and established its first store in UP and soon expanded operations across Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and the North East. Today, 1-India Family Mart has 51 stores across East and North of India. The company plans to open 50 more stores by the end of the current financial year. 1 India Family Mart is founded by Jay Prakash Shukla and Ravinder Singh.

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2. How is the tier-II and tier-III customer different from the urban customer? Any unexpected and interesting findings?

The spending behaviour in Tier 2 and 3 cities has been changing drastically. The mind-set about shopping has been changing and it is fast becoming a social act. People in the tier 2 cities have recently started looking at the aspect as a fun activity and look forward to shopping from a mall/mart rather than the local store. Consumers in Tier 2 & 3 cities, today, are seeking for options to reduce their apparel purchase expenditures. They are seeking value. There is a noticeable shift in their shopping preferences, with more importance given to product pricing. They are also more demanding expecting good quality, along with inexpensive pricing. Further, they are also fashion conscious, very much in par with consumers of Tier 1 cities and want to keep up with the latest trends. Disposable incomes in tier 2 & 3 cities are increasing. Shopping is all about experience now.

3. Please tell us the story of the founding of the company. What were the initial struggles and learning?

Our vision is to address the need of 75% of the population that resides in the small towns and cities of India. The understanding of business for this segment was scarce but there was an innate enthusiasm about the possibility of business that could be extracted from these towns.
On the basis of this belief, Nysaa Retail Private Limited, established in November 2012, launched its retail chain from October 2013 from Uttar Pradesh and then expanding its business to Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and the North East.
When the first store was opened at Ghazipur, we were brand new in the business and our staff was extremely short handed. Early on, the impetus was laid upon the manual execution of tasks which helped to understand the operations and grass-root challenges involved in primary marketing and store operations. The sale and merchandising divisions were in their nascent stages and a productive association with our vendor smoothened the path for us. The sales were still erratic post opening the store as the demographics weren’t mapped and there was a gap between the planned and actual figures. With time, dedicated effort & hard work, the team started getting the demand – supply and sales numbers aligned. Within four months, we opened our fourth store at Basti and in the next four years, in March 2018, we opened our 50th store in Ranchi. By the end of 2019, our vision is to operate at 100 stores across the country.

4. You have recently raised Rs 6.5M USD from private equity.. How did that come about?

We have been growing organically exponentially year on year. From one store in UP in 2013 to 53 stores today, 1-India Family Mart has become synonyms with affordable fashion and general merchandise in Tier 2 & 3 markets across North and East India. To fuel our next phase of growth we were looking for partners and Carpediem Capital was the right fit. The fund essentially focuses on broad consumption themes - companies that are creating consumer brands or are providing organized services that have been traditionally unorganized and fragmented. Carpediem Capital partners with entrepreneurs to drive forth a transformation agenda to co-build businesses to create value.
We were introduced to the fund by a mutual friend. We met a couple of times and realised that they were the right partners to help us grow to the next level.

5. What are your future plans with the company?

In the last 5 years, we have grown to 51 stores spread across 27 cities in Norther and Eastern India. By the end of calendar year 2019, our vision is to have 100 operational stores across the country. From a current top line of INR 250cr we aim to achieve INR. 500cr top line.

- TradeBriefs Bureau -