Jan 18, 2010 10:59 AM
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I was introduced to Vagad’s Men’s Choice by a young, dapper, successful businessman friend of mine. It is located near Chembur Station. Address: Vagad’s Men’s Choice, Siddarth House, Plot.No.11-A, 19th Road, Chembur, Mumbai.
I also noticed another Vagad showroom at Dadar T.T. The location of the Dadar Branch is – Vagad’s Men’s Choice, 6/7, Jestharam Bagh, Dr.B.Ambedkar Road, Dadar T.T, Mumbai. The Hindmata-Dadar T.T being synonymous with Mills, Showrooms, textiles & fabrics, I derived that the Vagads must be an old hand at fashion merchandising. Besides Men’s Wear, the store also stocks men’s fashion accessories like ties, leather wallets & belts, cufflinks & handkerchiefs.
The popular brands are present – Van Heusen, Louis Philipe and Raymonds. Some local brands are also available, which they claimed was tailored from Raymond fabric. The store understood the current trends & kept only the running choices, so that selection was made easy. Patterns & colors in plains, stripes & checks are available. I had gone for purchasing some formal business-hour wear.
Initially, as one of the attendants tried to show me some glitzy party wear, I was planning to walk out of the shop. However soon, the tailor at the shop correctly judged my choice & size and in fact scolded the attendant for suggesting the wrong trousers. The tailor also encouraged me to try all the dresses with several shirt-trouser combinations & assisted me throughout my shopping spree. The Tailor also agreed to alter & adjust even the readymade garments, so that I didn’t have to search for another tailor just for the alterations.
Now this was indeed fantastic because at most malls and stores like PLANET FASHION, SHOPPER’S STOP & PANTALOONS, I have seen attendants grumble when I ask for trials of more than one dress or when I wanted alteration at many places. I have often observed that, in GLOBUS & PANTALOONS, the attendants loosely stare back at you when you look at them for help. At MEGA-MART, the shop attendant was forcing me to buy SOMETHING, although there was hardly ANYTHING that was interesting except the rebates. At REID & TAYLOR showrooms, I was beguiled multiple times into buying ill-fitting shirts & trousers, the quality of which, especially the colours, deteriorated after a few washes. I am so disappointed with S.Kumar’s that I have taken a vow never to try their clothes again. Recently, I had a bad experience with even their Oxemberg brand, which I earlier used to like.
I deliberately visited the store during noon, when the stores are generally less crowded. As I was the only customer in the shop at that time, the entire store ran riot after me with all types of shirts & trousers until I up my mind. In between, I had a complimentary cup of high-noon tea with them. The VAGAD’S also remember their regular patrons & their choices.
About Kishor Biyani(Pantaloons, Big Bazaar) it is said – That he can accurately guess a man’s choice & measurements from several feet away.
After settling the bill, I came out of the shop wondering about whether I had made the right choices & anxious about the fitting. A few days later, when I tried the clothes after alterations, I was extremely satisfied & decided to write this review to share this experience with others. Except for one thing which annoyed me – they didn’t to a discount, which made me realize that I was a real DUNCE at bargaining.
