Sanmugamagesh
General Manager TAILYOU (The Chennai Silks)
Our popular products are silk sarees and salwars
India-based The Chennai Silks (TCS) has proven to be a shopper’s delight for generations of families with its widespread reach through its sprawling showrooms across several towns and cities in south India. With clothes for every season and every occasion, TCS has indeed become the favourite family shop. In a brief talk, TCS general manager Sanmugamagesh tells Fibre2Fashion about the company, its products, and expansion plans.
In the last five decades, The Chennai Silks has transitioned from modest khadi stores to the largest textile company in Tamil Nadu. Please tell us about your journey till date.
Our founder Thiru A Kulandaivel Mudaliar, who lived in a village near Avinashi, entered the business in 1962. However, our first textile shop was started in Tiruppur in 1991 as ‘Kumaran Silks’ with his hard work, which was later renamed as The Chennai Silks in 2001.
In 2007, Guinness world record for the “most expensive silk saree” was created by The Chennai Silks. It was worth about $100,021 (£50,679 or ₹41 lakhs) and featured reproductions of 11 famous paintings by the Indian artist Raja Ravi Varma. The main image is a reproduction of Varma’s famous ‘Galaxy of Musicians’. It took around 4,760 man-hours to complete the design.
Today, The Chennai Silks has its branches in Ernakulam, Tiruppur, Coimbatore (3 stores), Erode, Chennai, Velachery, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Karur, Kochi, Tirunelveli, Vellore, Salem, Hosur, Viluppuram, Kovilpatti, Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Thoothukudi, Tiruvallur, Chittor, Dindigul, Hyderabad, and Chrompet.
What products do you have in womenswear, menswear and kidswear? Do you outsource production or have in-house manufacturing unit?
In womenswear, we have sarees, chudidars, westernwear, half sarees, tops, leggings, coats, and undergarments. In menswear, we sell formal shirts, casual shirts, trousers, jeans, dhoties, shorts, blazers, winter jackets, coats, suits, and undergarments. In kids and infants wear, we offer jhabla, dungaree, romper, nappy, mittens, booties, bib, dry sheets, caps, t-shirts and trousers.
We produce 70 per cent in-house, and the remaining 30 pe cent is outsourced. We have further plan of expansion of in-house manufacturing.
You specialise in silk and festive wear sarees. What percentage of your revenue comes from these products?
Around 50 per cent of revenue is from silk sarees.
Which are the 5 things which distinguish The Chennai Silks from other garment producing companies? What is your USP?
The five things would be: 1. Quality, 2. Colours and designs as per trend, 3. Pricing, 4. Catering to all groups of people, and 5. Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
With the exception of your store at the Mumbai airport, your store presence is limited to South India. Any plans of opening new stores in any other states in India?
Yes, we have plans of opening stores in other states.
Which are the major areas/cities in India that have your customer bases?
It is majorly metropolitan cities in south India.
You cater to customers in over 200 countries through your e-commerce portal. Which countries apart from India are your major markets? Which of your ethnic wear products are popular?
Apart from India, our major markets are the US, the UK and Australia. Our popular products are silk sarees and salwars.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, restrictions were imposed on festivities, celebrations, and weddings across India. How did this effect your sales of festive and wedding wear?
Our showrooms were closed during the lockdown period.
What are the two biggest challenges in your day-to-day sourcing and order delivery?
The fluctuation in yarn rates impacts us. Another challenge is the delay in fabric delivery by fabric manufacturers.
What trends are popular in silk sarees today?
Kalamkari prints, sustainable silks, and organic silks are currently popular in silk sarees.
What are your long-term goals? How do you plan to expand your current set-up?
We plan to develop our own private label brands in all categories that we cater.
Published on: 27/01/2022
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
