Allen Cooper, Rosebys face slowdown blues

Many companies faced difficult times during the last

economic slowdown and the post-slowdown woes still continue to affect businesses. Earlier this year, GHCL Group’s home furnishing chain Rosebys closed its operations and is currently facing lawsuits from vendors and landlords. And now, Ess Aay Fashion India, which operates the Allen Cooper-branded discount apparel chain, is facing the blow and has to bring down the shutters of its stores. It is also said to be defaulting on payments.

Rosebys and Allen Cooper are the latest victims of the last economic downturn that led to the closure of several modern retailers in India in recent years, including Subhiksha, the India franchisee of US-based My Dollar Store, the Spinach chain from Wadhawan Group, and Super Store I, the stationery chain from the Indo Rama Group, among others.

While some could sail through the slowdown tide by changing their business model, others had to completely shut down their ventures. For instance, in the early 2000s, Koutons Retail India came up with a novel idea of offering year-round deep discounted product line. It kept its price tag so high that even after the deepest discount the company was able to make considerable profits. Many others like Cantabil, Allen Cooper and TNG followed suit. But later during the slowdown, when consumers were looking for value for money, they did not see much sense in shopping at those stores and the chains not only lost customers but also their faith.

Now, to deal with the slowdown trail and recent levy of excise duty on branded apparel, these chains are adapting a flat rate model. Their products will now not only come with a flat rate but will also carry products priced 65 per cent lower than the earlier jacked-up prices model. Cantabil and rival TNG have already begun exploring this route.