BIHAR BRAND POWER

City beams with brand confidence

AAROHI KESHAV

Customers check out clothes on display at a shop and (below) big showrooms at a market in Patna. Pictures by Nagendra Kumar Singh Patna, Sept. 2: Big brands, bigger showrooms. Residents in Patna are fast acquiring a taste for expensive brands and extravagant lifestyle. This brand consciousness is relatively new for the capital and hence the shoppers are in a fix over what to go for. Which brands are the best? What are the reasons for one to stick to a particular brand? How much money should be spent on what? These are a few questions on the minds on all shoppers who head towards the big malls in the capital. These days, everyone is becoming brand conscious irrespective of his or her age. From a four-year-old child to 60-year-old retired official, all want products with an international label. Their belief: “Sasta roye baar baar. Mehnga roye ek baar (Those who buy cheap products are complain all the time. Those who buy quality products, never repent)”. Patna today has all big showrooms like Reebok, Lee, Levis, Adidas, Woodland, Colourplus, Zodiac and Louis Phillips. You name it and you have it. First-year engineering student Pratyush Ranjan believes that branded products are “chic” and give one tremendous confidence. He said: “I always wear branded things, from wrist watches to sunglasses, t-shirts, jeans and shoes. The quality of branded products are great because of the amount of research done by experts on them and also because of their name in international market. Ranjan said he prefers to shop once a year rather than compromise on quality. According to Nikhil Aggarwal, franchise owner of Adidas in Kankerbagh, in the past few years, there has been a tremendous growth in sales. Presently, there are four Adidas showrooms in Patna and all of them remain crowded all through weekends and sales goes up by 30 to 40 per cent. Aggarwal said: “Earlier, young boys and girls used to visit the showroom. In the past few years, there has been an increase in the footfall and now we are getting middle-aged men and women as well as senior citizens as customers. They usually buy tracks and shoes.” Vicky Bansal, a young corporate executive, said: “I buy branded clothes because they are very comfortable and of good quality. The fabric is also skin-friendly and the colours do not fade, nor do they shrink. Bansal added: “When you buy clothes from a branded shop, you know you have the option to exchange them if there is a problem. Branded shops are actually hassle-free compared to local shops, which, at times, refuse to exchange or refund the items bought.” Children too are acquiring a taste for branded products. Four-year-old Ananya forces her parents to buy her clothes from Lilliput showroom at Boring Road. Her mother’s reasonings fall on deaf ears and she is left with no choice but to give Ananya what she wants. Ananya has no idea about brands. She said: “I love everything here. The colour, the design. The shop is so big and it has soft toys as well.” Owner of the Lilliput showroom, Vikash Singh, said: “The trend has completely changed now. Kids are have become a lot more brand conscious than their parents. Now they suggest that their parents come to our shop to buy things for them. Their friends too wear similar clothes.” On an average, 25-30 customers visit the shop every day and the sales touch Rs 20,000 easily. The older generation is not far behind. Sixty-year-old K. P. Srivastava makes sure he wears everything branded whenever he goes out for a morning or evening walk. “I always make sure that my track suit is from a branded sportswear shop like Reebok, Adidas or Puma. I pay equal importance to the shoes. Branded shoe is a must.” Brand consciousness is here to stay, now the showrooms await brand loyalty.