The five-decade-old Kolkata-based footwear retail chain is taking firm steps towards a strong national presence
My business is not my jaagirdaari,” says Siddhartha Roy Burman, the second-generation entrepreneur who runs Kolkata-based footwear company Khadim’s. “Why shouldn’t I be ready to part with a bit of it if it’s good for business?” Last year, Roy Burman accepted a Rs 90-crore investment from Reliance Private Equity (of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group) for a “significant minority stake” in his company. Reason: His plan to expand Khadim’s across India.
Growth has been on Roy Burman’s agenda since he joined his father in 1982. In 1992, when Khadim India Ltd was still a wholesale footwear business, Roy Burman commissioned Ulka, an advertising agency, to make a short film on his firm. “I spent Rs 3.5 lakh on that film and made it just out of an emotional attachment to my business,” says Roy Burman (52). But the outcome went beyond sentimentality: Numerous interactions with brand consultants at Ulka indicated the need to build a retail brand.
In 1993, he started three Khadim’s retail outlets in Kolkata, offering an affordable range of footwear. Customers voted with their wallet and Roy Burman, thereafter, started to roll out retail operations in India’s eastern states, and later entered Tamil Nadu.
Today, with a presence in 21 states with 650 outlets (70 of which are in Kolkata), and a turnover of Rs 425 crore (FY2013), Khadim’s is a well-known brand in eastern India; it is also present in parts of south and central India.
The Men Behind it
Satya Prasad Roy Burman was a rebel who had run away from his Kolkata home to Mumbai when he was 18. He returned home after having worked at a few shoe shops and, once back, bought a small store in Chitpur, owned by KM Khadim, in 1965. He soon realised the need for affordable and quality footwear and started manufacturing as well as procuring from other vendors; he later expanded his wholesale business across West Bengal and eastern India.
His son Siddhartha joined him after graduating, and together they set up two manufacturing units. Satya Prasad passed away last year, but Siddhartha plans to build on his father’s legacy and has brought his two sons into the business now.
(This story appears in the 25 July, 2014 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)