From Mancherial to Hyd, Sri Vaibhavam comes long way

Hyderabad: Chalapathi Valasa's magical run in textile business is inspirational, to say the least. Born into a family that depended on a small repair shop in Bellampally in Mancherial district, Chalapathi, an intermediate dropout, weaved a textile retail business success story stitch by stitch over the last 18 years.

Now, Sri Vaishnavi Retail (India) LLP, a partnership firm owned by him and his close-knit circle, has two malls and seven garment stores in Mancherial and Bellampally in Mancherial district, Manthani in Peddapally district and Bhupalpally in Bhupalpally district.

He took the biggest business step of his life when his company recently opened Sri Vaibhavam Shopping Mall in Chintal near Balanagar in Hyderabad. Noted film actress Shruti Haasan did the honour of inaugurating the mall.

"My father used to run a watch repair shop called Maruti Watches in Bellampally. We shifted the shop to Mancherial town in the year 2000 and continued with business of selling watches for a couple of years.

However, we sensed that that business would not last long as mobile phones were getting popular. So, we were looking for a new business area which would offer growth and long-term prospects.

That was when we zeroed in on garments," 41-year-old Chalapathi Valasa, Managing Partner, Sri Vaishnavi Retail, told The Hans India at his fourth-floor office at Sri Vaibhavam Shopping Mall in Chintal.

Chalapathi, who started working in family's watches shop at the age of 22, has a valid reason for selecting textile business. "Everyone needs food and clothes on a regular basis.

These two are evergreen businesses if one has the inclination to handle them deftly. I went for textile business as it allowed us to expand and expand," he recounted. Chalapathi's foray into garment business started with Maruti Fashions, a small menswear outlet, in Mancherial in 2003 with an investment of Rs 6 lakh.

Thereafter, he established Vaishnavi Textiles, a retail textile outlet, in Mancherial nearly 12 years ago, followed by another textile showroom, Nakshatra Textiles, in Bellampally.

"Our textile showroom in Bellampally created a sensation. Though a town with several coal mines, Bellampally did not have any decent textile showrooms till then. Our showroom became an instant hit and we had good business there," he said.

Post the phenomenal success in Bellampally, the textile retailer never looked back. He opened showrooms in Manthani (Vaishnavi Textiles) and Bhupalpally (Kalyanam Textiles).

"We chose different names for different locations on the suggestion of our priest. Three years back, we established Sri Vaibhavam Shopping Mall, our first mall, in Mancherial with an investment of Rs one crore. In this business, it is trust and quality that counts," he maintained.

The second shopping mall under Sri Vaibhavam brand opened in Hyderabad last week. "We assessed our capabilities in opening and monitoring outlets at different locations before making the big decision to foray into the Hyderabad market.

For Hyderabad mall, we invested close to Rs 4 crore through loans, internal accruals and credit from suppliers," he said.

At present, the company has 400 employees across all its outlets – malls, showrooms and small outlets.

Of them, the Hyderabad mall accounts for 100. The company's annual turnover has already crossed Rs 36 crore. "We have a loyal customer base. That's secret of our success. Long-term support of customers holds key to success in this business," he reasoned.

Chalapathi exuded confidence that his company would earn trust of customers in Hyderabad as well, despite the presence of big brands. "Every company or brand should have started the way we did. So, I don't think we will have any problem here so long as we provide quality products," he asserted.

His next stop is Siddipet where the company is gearing up to open new shopping mall in three months. Thereafter, he plans to set up a warehouse, open more malls in Hyderabad.

From Mancherial to Hyderabad, Chalapathi Valasa and his textile retail business has come a long way. Isn't it?