SHOPPER?S DELIGHT: The new-look Raymond shop at Poddar Court. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

The rules of the retail space may have done an about turn but the old rules still work as well as ever.

From 50 sq ft in 1969 to 10,200 sq ft in 2004 ? the single largest cash-earner for the Raymond brand has reinvented itself. If you think location is key and homogenised service standards sell, 18 Rabindra Sarani is the place to head on November 18. For eight years, this Poddar Court store has topped sales charts, leaving its counterparts in more posh locations far behind.

On Thursday, the store, which has doubled in size and metamorphosed in look, will be relaunched by Nabankar Gupta, Raymond group president. The first Raymond stop to have an in-store Be: section will also see fashion designer Wendell Rodericks drop by. With the ?future of retail in the garments business?, the store has expanded to give readymade clothes enough shelf space. Parx, Park Avenue, Colour Plus have designated areas here, as does Raymond?s new high-end brand Manzoni.

The store has defied conventional wisdom with the oldest trick in the book ? an obsession with service. The tiny Tiretta Bazaar store started by Nandu Pansari has grown and grown, but he still spends all his time with customers. ?I don?t have a cabin. I spend all my time on the floor,? explains the ageing Pansari. Here customer is not king, ?he is god?.

And never is this more true than in marriage season. ?My father knows all the regulars. He knows their families, who is married and who is scheduled to get married,? smiles son Sidhartha, who has diversified into the book business, bringing Crossword to town. The wedding season brings in the money, with families ?buying seven or eight suits? at one go. Most sales are in the worsted woollen fabrics ? or suit-length ? segment.

Footfall during peak season can go up to around 800 per day. While this may not seem like much, with conversion rates of ?almost 100 per cent?, the numbers add up. The average shopper dishes out over Rs 1,800 on a single visit, but weddings can prompt spends of around Rs 5 lakh at one go as well.

If the Forums of the world have food courts, the Pansari store takes it a step further. ?The object is to make the customer spend as much time at the store as possible. If he leaves, he might not come back,? explains Sidhartha. If that means throwing in a free lunch for a big spender, so be it.

?If a customer leaves happy, he will bring 25 more buyers in. If he leaves our store dissatisfied, he will take 100 clients with him,? believes the elder Pansari.