TRAVANCORE FRESH SUPERMARKET

 

TRAVANCORE FRESH SUPERMARKET

 

We were very happy for Ashwin when he completed his MBA  with a First Class. However, it was the time when jobs were difficult to come by. Ashwin went out in search of a position. The hunt went on. Fortunately he found a job in a Company at the Technopark. Like all the Techies at that time, who were jumping from one to another, he switched from his job to a placement in an export  firm. A couple of months later he left that job with an idea to go into the retail business. Marketing and Finance were his topics for  MBA.

Travancore Fresh.Supermarket, a start up was thus born in the year 2019. The going was tough initially. It still is, though it’s six years now.

Theory and practice are a world apart. Before going into the retail venture, he had worked for Reliance Retail for a few months.  But working for a retail behemoth and struggling with a start up are not alike.

He had to find a suitable and affordable place. He scouted several areas for almost two years. He travelled to several shops on his bike. Standing outside the shops he counted the foot falls. In between he would enter the shops, spend some time there and buy something and get off. Once he was in the shop, he observed the arrangements in it, the customer service and the customer preferences.

He zeroed in on a building at Vandithadom, near Pachalloor and Tiruvallom and 2 kms to Kovalam and Vizhinjam. Vandithadaom is 10kms away from the heart of Thiruvananthapuram. It’s basically a residential locality with not much industrial activity.

Travancore Fresh.Supermarket was established in the building he located. For competition, it had four or five similar shops in the neighbourhood. After he had opened the shop, a few more such shops had come up in the proximity. The more the merrier, he maintains.

The shop was built from scratch. It now functions on two floors. It is well stocked.

When it had opened, the customer inflow was limited. It is gradually.growing.

Covid 19 was the big challenge. There was sanction for the functioning of the shop. However the restrictions had impeded its working. For many days he had to manage everything himself. Fear drove the staff away.  

As Covid 19 wore off the functioning of the shop was back to normal.

It is open from 9 AM to 9 PM. The customers call it “Margin Free.’ Wherever he could, he charges less. The customers flock in.

 Yes, Ashwin believes volume drives business.