Fabindia

Today, I feel like writing about India’s ethnic retail cloth franchisee, Fabindia.

Everyone who is Indian has always indulged in something from this expensive but elegant franchise Fabindia. This not only sells traditional indian clothing but also ethnic, bedsheets, doormats, strawmats and a lot of other apparels and items.

But did you know Fabindia was founded by a foreigner. In 1958, well before American companies were sourcing from India, John Bissell left his position as a buyer for Macy’s New York to work as a consultant for the Ford Foundation in order to develop India’s export potential in its emerging textile industry. What Bissell discovered was a village-based industry with a profusion of skills hidden from the world.

In 1975, Fabindia established its first retail store in Greater Kailash, Delhi.

There are also divisions such as Fabindia organics for spices, sugar, tea, coffee and Fabindia Sana for bodycare lotions, soaps, oils – all these are of ethnic value.

This article is derived from Indiamarks. For knowing more click on the link.

This one might interest entrepreneurs. Fabindia is a brand that does not advertise. It, in fact, celebrates the success of its copycats. And now Fabindia, the craft-conscious enterprise, is a Harvard Business School (HBS) case study.

“It is like playing a tennis match at centre court, Wimbledon in front of a packed stadium. It’s a great honour,” says Mr. Sunil Chainani, Director, who has shared the Fabindia story at IIM-A, and has presented it at HBS.

Personally, I feel Fabindia is a retail store out of reach for the middle-class and only caters efficiently to the upper-class or the visiting foreigners. However, it is not too bad if you indulge once in a while as the prices of goods are a premium.