A tiny shop gives vent to PU topper’s creativity

Mona went to the employment exchange and got a list of qualified yet needy women. At one point she had nine women making suits and children’s clothes. Two of them were handicapped. In fact, one of the cutters, even though the unit has shut down, is being paid a pension by husband Haraj.

Mona used to design the garments and personally supervise the finish and execution. It was with this household type of industry that Mona learnt the basics of business.

"Production and sales are two different areas. My unit had ultimately reached a scale that either I had to expand, or shut down if I wanted to make success of the unit. My friend Manju Dayal and I put our efforts together and slowly disbanded the unit. But even today I stock hand embroidered children’s clothes from the NGO Arpana, and household linen done by the nuns from the missions down South."

Opening the shop was a sheer labour of love. "I wanted to put in the shop little gift items into which a lot of thought and care had gone into." At one point the Tiny Shop was the only place where you could get imported cut glass, whiskey glasses, liquor glasses, silver photo frames. Today the repertoire of goods at the shop include a range of ceramic household utilitarian items — Golden Bridge Pottery and hand tooled leather items from Auroville, Pondicherry, embroidered household linen, baby clothes, lamps shades, screen printed linen, matching designer cushion covers, a range of unusual crystal, photoframes, candles, candle stands, and numerous decorative items, trays, murals and paintings, a kind of a art gallery, which also keeps framed prints of the Indian masters. Some costume jewellery, wrapping paper, zardosi purses, brass ware watches and clock are also stocked at the shop. There are also a few selected hand crafted pure silver items. Hand crafted artifacts from Hathras, Rajasthan, and Gurjaratare ideal for gifts when going abroad. There is a gift for every occasion and a varied age group. From a minimum price of Rs 50 to maximum of Rs 10,000.

With Delhi being so close, the clientele which shops at Tiny Shop has easy access to the best in Delhi. Yet Mona still manages to keep her shop fairly exclusive. "I tend to discontinue and introduce items, since my clientele is very conscious of quality and standard. I get the silver plating done in Delhi for my crockery and I give a guarantee of one year. I also get some items specially designed for the shop. I develop my own designs and revive old designs. I source my goods as far as Farukkhabad for glass items, Delhi and Ambala. Since I do the sourcing myself, margins are on the sourcing and purchase, and that is how I manage to keep my prices competitive. Delhi shops can keep a lot of back up stock since they are not working with their own money."

Mona in her little shop still manages to keep up to 700 items and is always there in the mornings personally supervising and guiding her customers. Client consult her while buying and they seek her advice on selection. Mona provides some general guidelines. "Stick to a theme, since the object is shown to its best advantage in the appropriate background." She even gets murals sculptures, hand painted articles on order to specific size. Mona is more than satisfied with her small venture. "My creative outlet is more than satisfied through running the shop."