\u201cI belong to retail and I love it\u201d quips Niteen Shah, Director, Total Sports. \u201cI was leading a very mundane life till about 10 years ago (2002). Stuck for 20 years in our 80 year old family business of retail, Asian General Stores, which my grandfather had established in 1932. I had joined in 1983, at the age of 20. I wanted to move with the changing scenario in India. Our country had started taking baby steps towards liberalization and modern retail formats.\u201d Says Niteen.<\/p>\n It was this will to do something different that made Niteen take the plunge in the year 2003. He leased out a 400 sq. ft. shop in the adjacent building and opened a sports & fitness store, called Total Sports.<\/p>\n Reminiscing about his early experiences Niteen says,\u201d I had started this business without any knowledge or experience of sports and fitness industry. Dhobi Talav has been and still is the hub for all sports and fitness goods in Mumbai. \u00a0There was no distribution system like the one in FMCG industry. So we had to source all goods from other retailers who were also semi wholesalers. I hired one person to manage the store, and we went about sourcing merchandise. We were original in our store design and concept and in the first week of getting into this business I realized I had hit the bulls-eye.\u201d<\/p>\n Total Sports integrates sports goods, sportswear, fitness equipment and food supplements under one roof. Since 2003, health and nutrition consciousness has grown among consumers. In addition, parents now view sports practice as an important part of imparting all-round education to children \u2013 a structural change from the 1980\u2019s and 1990\u2019s where time spent on sport was considered a distraction.\u00a0 \u201cMost parents are keen that their children participate in sports. Chronic diseases have forced many to get into some kind of physical activity and there is a realization that regular physical activity throughout one\u2019s life is the key to staying fit. There is tremendous amount of realization about the benefits of a sports and fitness regime. It is also becoming fashionable to be playing a sport or being a member of some club or gymnasium.\u201d \u2013 says Niteen.<\/p>\n Apart from this Media has been playing a huge role in promoting sports and fitness. People get inspired to follow and emulate their icons. \u201cBut there are very few open spaces or sporting infrastructure, like the ones I have seen abroad. We need more government support on this front\u201d suggests Niteen.<\/p>\n Educational institutions have a huge role to play. But very few schools and colleges take sports and fitness seriously and in right perspective. \u2018Sports is Education\u2019 It cannot be segregated from studies. Sports and fitness as an activity is integral to the overall development of a personality. I wish every child gets an opportunity to showcase his or her skills in this area. It’s my dream to see India turn into a great sporting nation in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRAI has a role to play here by pushing the government to act and promote sports and fitness – creating world class sporting and recreation infrastructure and making sports compulsory from early school. Investment in community sports infrastructure can help governments reduce health care budgets by boosting immunity and building healthy minds and bodies. We can be more productive as a nation. Prevention is always better than cure. Can’t we do that?\u201d Niteen asks.<\/p>\n Total Sports was started with about an investment of 15 Lakhs spent on interiors, stock and a staff of four people. The store displayed sports goods in an attractive manner and gave direct access to customers in terms of touch and feel and advice. \u00a0\u201cConceptually too, no one ever thought about this category, the way we did. So we had a head start. Customers were amazed as they had never seen anything of that sort, back in 2003.\u201d – says Niteen.<\/p>\n Total Sports offers the widest range of sports and fitness merchandise in the country and are highly respected and recognized within and outside the industry. \u201cKids and teenagers love just Total Sports & Fitness (TSF) and for them, buying from TSF is cool.\u201d Niteen says.<\/p>\n The growth Total Sports has also been due to innovative strategies and initiatives, including:<\/p>\n To maintain supply-chain efficiencies Total Sports, gets its supplies from owned warehouses located at Bhiwandi, outside the city limits..<\/p>\n A. Competition from unorganized retail sector<\/b> \u2013 Customers were used to buying piecemeal from unorganized retailers. Over time, Total Sports has built brand\u00a0 recall and experience. With scale has come supply chain efficiencies and they are now able to provide comparable value for money to the unorganized sector.<\/p>\n B. High real estate rentals<\/b> \u2013 Successful mall developers have started demanding high rentals which are unaffordable to\u00a0emerging retailers like Total Sports. \u00a0They have opted for a mix of high street and mall stores – \u201cWe have 3 stores on high streets and 3 in malls\u201d says Niteen.<\/p>\n C. Complicated regulatory processes<\/b> \u2013 From the number of licenses needed to open a store to the multiple taxes applicable to sports goods (Octroi, Cess, Local Body Tax, VAT etc) \u2013 compliance is costly and cumbersome.<\/p>\n From a 400 sq. ft. store in 2003, today there are six stores amounting to a total of 12000 sq. ft. retail space, with a customer base higher of two lakh. \u00a0Niteen says, \u201cWe want to open more number of stores at the earliest and also promote and support sports in a big way. Our aspiration is to be the best in the field of sports and fitness and continue to promote and create sports and fitness culture in India.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Profile-1\"](\"http:\/\/rai.net.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Profile-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nIn the shoes of the customer<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Building the concept<\/h2>\n\n
Challenges faced<\/h2>\n
Impact<\/h2>\n