By Ruvini Jayasinghe
Deep rooted family values, strong parenting beliefs, importance of quality “together times” on family outings even with infants, triggered the concept of the six story Lady J – a bustling hive for shopping and leisure for seasonal shoppers, families, extended families and lovers.
The man or men behind the newest lifestyle store dominating the suburb of Maharagama are businessmen who value family life above all else and drive business with a human touch and empathy.
“It is a meeting place for the community, where people with their entire family, friends or relatives can spend a few hours at leisure, in a relaxed environment, at an affordable level with easy approach and parking facilities and direct access to public transport,” says Managing Director, Anuruddha Wijerathne.
Anuruddha’s personality, academic learning, skills and his natural empathy towards his fellow beings are amply reflected in the ambience of the mall which stores every type of consumer product from home and kitchen ware, gift items, clothes, shoes cosmetics and more an average City family would require to live a quality life at an affordable price.
Maharagama is Sri Lanka’s Bangkok, says Anuruddha who developed the mall to suit the township. His study of demographics, social and economic status of the society are spot on as he honed in on the target market with convincing accuracy to set up Lady J and make it a bustling success in under half a year.
Anuruddha, a student of Thurstan College Colombo, and a Bachelor of Business in Marketing and HRM from Latrobe University, and a Master of Politics and Policy from Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, worked in services & hospitality in Australia before he came back with his wife to join the family business.
Anuruddha holds in highest esteem the mentorship and guidance of his father and mother in law Mr. J.G Sumanapala and Mrs. Dharmalatha Akurugoda who reached fame decades ago with their unpretentious shop
inside the Galle Fort called “Kotuwe Kade’ in which premises now stands the Heritage hotel.
Before long the Kotuwe Kade expanded to a thriving store with more household goods, clothes, footwear and other consumer goods and laid the foundation for Lady J and Manjari, both popular brands today
Lady J was first established in 2002 in Borella and is derived from Anuruddha’s wife Jayani’s name, while Manjari is the name of his sister-in-law. So, the story is that his dad and mum in law established two sister chains for their two daughters, which have both picked up great momentum now developed into a different level of retailing from their original Kotuwe Kade.
BMD chatted with Anuruddha Wijerathne the driving force of Lady J Lifestyle store in Maharagama. Excerpts from the interview:
Q: What makes Lady Jay Maharagama a totally new experience?
This is a purposely-built store where we strive to give the customer the experience of being in an international shopping experience at local prices. We have almost sixty thousand square feet shopping area over three and half floors, covering everything of a modern family needs under one roof apart from fresh foods and groceries. It’s a value for money business model. The key factors are huge product range affordable pricing. We are trying our best to offer variety with an improved customer service and is also a meeting place for residents of the area.
Maharagama has an established middle class and our focus is to build a sustainable retail customer base where shoppers come in regularly. On the other hand, we wanted to build an experiential retailing outlet with our own model. To this end we have enhanced our facilities beyond a standard shopping outlet. We have two floors for parking and a capacity over 100 vehicles at a time.
Probably we might also be the first to introduce strollers for babies free of charge and wheelchairs for the disabled; our floors are equipped to navigate wheelchairs. We have the kids play area and our mother’s room to facilitate mothers with infants and young children to feed them throughout the day as the family spends the day in our store. We have a free of charge facility for mums to change their kids’ nappies. In fact we would like others to follow our example, in building an inclusive society.
Q: You have introduced fresh, progressive concepts in customer service and follow philosophies of international retail giants who inspire you. Please share your thoughts and views on customer service?
Before we do anything, I would like to see how those changes would affect me if I was a customer of Lady J. We adopt a “no pushing” strategy with my sales team and I ask them to let the customer choose and select for themselves. I also do not encourage cross selling. Our customers should have 100% freedom of choice and feel comfortable and relaxed inside our store. For example, if the customer has come in to buy a trouser, I don’t want our sales staff being overzealous and trying to sell them a belt also or even a shoe.
We do not encourage our sales team to be too aggressive or probing in their sales and ask direct question like, “what is the price range you are looking for?” etc. as such direct approaches could put the customers off.
In fact we discourage unsustainable buying. We have displayed some posters in our lifts, an idea of my father in law Mr Sumanapala, saying that “Do not buy things which you really don’t need. Just only buy things you really need.” Also, through education and training we develop a different, healthy service culture. We believe in and encourage stakeholder contribution in our business and get our sales staff’s opinion and feedback in management and operations. My favorite retail giant is Costco boss, Jim Sinegal who I see some similarities with my father in law Mr. Sumanapala. Both have developed value for money – affordable business models.
Q: What kind of management methods are you using?
I believe that you have to be people friendly in services business which retail sector comes under. I am naturally friendly, would like to meet and work with people all the time. Emotional intelligence and empathy are two very important tools in my style of management. I have very few middle level managers and I prefer to be a hands-on leader working with my team wherever possible. I want to give them best possible comfort and service for our customers than per square foot value, which is commonly, use in retail.
Q: Lady J the “largest lifestyle store” is your concept and brainchild and established with insights from international retail sector. As an academic researcher and analyst in sociology, politics, marketing and human resources, how do you think the store has enhanced suburban life, in the city of Maharagama and its neighboring cities?
I have looked at this retail concept development almost in a policy development process. Looking at socio-economic concerns of the modern-day consumer society, such as less freedom in finance and time, I wanted to find out some entrepreneurial solutions which are inherited from my in laws business practices for few decades.
On the other hand, being the parents, of 10-year-old girl, Anneli and a 6 years old little boy Evan, my wife Jayani and I know how hard it is for parents to keep them happy. My wife Jayani, though she came from a business family and has an honors degree from Latrobe University in International Business and Management, doesn’t involve herself in business. She greatly appreciates quality family times and work life balance. We both discuss these concerns very often. So, my research starts from home.
It is a worrying issue for some parents that their children are always on their smart phones, but unfortunately parents are hard put to find avenues for affordable entertainment for their family.
Most houses today are built on less than 10 perches and families with small children feel the need to go out and enjoy big, airy spaces and are entertained at the same time in one location. It’s not easy or sometimes affordable if they go out in Colombo with their families for a day of leisure.
We wanted to find some answers to very real and important social issues. By making the experience affordable and of good quality we have created a place for shopping with leisure for the entire family. For example, we sell popcorn for just Rs. 40 a packet and our most of our short eats in the cafeteria are less than Rs. 50 per piece. A cup of black tea just Rs 10.
We are also planning to have a kids and family entertainment areas in Lady J Mahargama and Borella in the future. bmd