Lilliput could well be a misnomer, for there is nothing small about this 415 crore kidswear behemoth which spans the country and has inched overseas. Lilliputs long journey has been a series of baby steps that began 19 years ago.
In 1991, Sanjeev Narula, a young graduate set up a small unit with 25 sewing machines in Delhis Govindpuri area. He employed four people and hired tailors on contract to take up fabrication work for exporters. It required an investment of Rs.1 lakh which came from his own savings and as a loan from his father. He closed 1990-91 with a turnover of Rs 8 lakhs and it proved to be a turning point. It was around this time that India also liberalized its export policy and Narula moved to make the most of the booming industry.
As most orders had been from companies retailing in kidswear , it had by default, become Narulas expertise. And upon surveying the Indian market he realized that there was a vacuum in branded garments for kids and the ones which were available were either expensive or tacky. Hezeroed in on Delhis Greater Kailash market for his first store, which opened in April 2003. Brand Lilliput was finally born.
With a concrete business plan and an aggressive growth strategy, he did not take the franchising route to grow. Booking shops in upcoming malls over the country, in seven years, the number of stores across the country mushroomed to 250. Understanding the market dynamics well, he opened a store in Bahrain in 2007, since then there has been no looking back for him and now it has more than 30 stores in 10 countries apart from India.
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