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Blending with Trends

Retail industry is the next big commercial wave that is exploding in India and one of the pioneers who have established themselves firmly in Chennai with their wardrobe solutions are Rex Fashions in Luz Church Road, Mylapore, Chennai.

It was started in the early 1960s as a tailoring unit for men by M S Menon with 150 square feet space. Readymade garments came more into use in the 1980s and inline with this trend, Menon along with his sons ventured into the retail market. 

Rex became a favored outlet to buy men’s wear in 1980s for the warmth exuded and the way customers were always greeted and
the personal care that was extended in a homelike atmosphere. Every customer is greeted with a smile and referred to as ‘Boss’.  A friendly and relaxed environment, helpful counter salesmen and a variety of renowned brands to select from, is what customers experience till date when they enter this store.  As a result they have expanded phenomenally and adapting themselves to the trends in clothing, they are now celebrating their 25th year in the retail segment with a shop space of
over 17000 square feet which includes “Fashion for the entire family”. A long way from the days of being a tailoring unit! 

Satish, one of the partners of Rex explained, “We are five brothers Girish, Ramesh, Rajesh, Suresh and me who are partners and four of us are involved in the business, we have taken up the business after our father. We are serving the third generation of customers now. Initially the older generation came for their tailoring requirements, the next generation came in for readymades.  We are now catering to the current generation whose needs have expanded and they go in for quality brands. Wardrobes are compartmentalized into trendy casuals, co-ordinated formals with accessories, party clothes, gym wear and night suits. We also have all the accessories to go with the clothes like belts, socks, shoes, etc.  The market is buoyant and the customers mind set has changed over a period of time as they are more willing to splurge on clothes without hesitation. There are good sales right through the year with season being only an additional reason to buy clothes.”


  Trendy Clothes on display at Rex                             Girish - The eldest of Menon brothers                       Rex Fashion Square     

“With more stores and bigger stores being set-up, employee retention is a great task.  Competition is stiff.  These are our share of challenges but we are very well equipped to cope with these with our inherent strengths.  We do our best to satisfy our employees as we take a lot of time to train them. Our personal interaction with our customers has become an asset. We know most customers by name and face and we are happy to realize that we have built customer loyalty. We ensure that our customers get a good shopping experience every time they are in the shop.” 

The eldest of the brothers, Girish who has been in the business right from his school days and is a familiar face to all those who frequent Rex fashions spoke about future plans, “We plan to open stores in different areas in the city” and was very assertive when he stated the goal he had in mind “My father handed over 150 square feet of space to me, in my time I want to expand it to 1.5 lakh square feet of a single store”.

Rex Fashions is a household name with a huge customer base and is remembered and visited again and again for the Menons have managed to percolate their friendly nature and warmth in customer care down to the last salesman.  

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Written By: Mala
Date Posted: 1/4/2007
Number of Views: 257

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