The BandBox outlet on JL Nehru Road. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Ranjit Mullick had to turn up for his IBM interview in dhoti-kurta, since he couldn’t fetch his suit from dry-cleaners BandBox on Chowringhee, where employees were on a strike.

He didn’t get the job and, in his sartorial desperation, smashed open the Nu York showroom on Lindsay Street. Vignettes from Mrinal Sen’s film Interview shot in simmering Calcutta of 1969.

Nearly four decades on, BandBox still remains the city’s “most preferred brand” for dry-cleaning, and the management has kept pole position through constant contrivance.

“We command over 50 per cent market share of the laundry business in Calcutta, but realise the need to keep looking at new areas to keep our nose ahead,” says Raman Bahri. He, along with cousin Deepi Bahri, inherited the family business founded by the late ML Bahri in 1950.

What started with the 53D Chowringhee Road outlet, spread its laundry chain to Hazra Road, New Alipore, Salt Lake, Lake Town and to Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack, Puri and Bokaro outside Calcutta.

The Rs 12-crore BandBox business comprises around 15 dry-cleaning outlets in Calcutta — 10 of them self-owned, others franchised — all served by a mechanised washing factory in Behala.

“We have ventured into bulk institutional laundry including hotels, clubs, hospitals and restaurants. We can set up in-house laundry for bulk business on the premises itself,” says Aman Bahri, who helps father Raman in running the chain.

The group has also started manufacturing linen for institutions and maintaining the stocks, as another tool to ensure brand loyalty. BandBox washes railway linen too, through tie-ups with Eastern and South-Eastern Railway.

Besides a “strong home delivery system”, the Bahris’ dry-cleaning chain has also diversified into shampooing and deodorising of carpets, marble crystallisation and polishing of granite flooring, and upholstery cleaning.

“We are also dealers of VIP luggage through a tie-up with Blowplast,” says Raman Bahri. The group is planning five more combo-showrooms in town as part of its tandem-retail venture.

Following its “successful treasure hunt” collaboration with Saturday Club, BandBox is planning similar co-branding alliances with other clubs and hotels, while expanding on its innovative marketing tools like the ‘Dial-a-wash’.