The inmates of the Capital?s Tihar prison are now vying for a piece of the burgeoning consumer market. Years after starting its brand called TJ?s, products from the country?s largest prison are trying to find their way into the country?s swanky malls.
On Thursday, TJ?s products including snacks, apparels, rags, jute bags, furniture and even paintings by the inmates were showcased in New Delhi?s Select Citywalk Mall in a novel initiative.
?The products were earlier only available through stores in the courts, various government offices and Kendriya Bhandar stores. This is our first initiative to reach the consumers in a mall directly,? says RN Sharma, deputy inspector general of Tihar prison.
Authorities advertised the foray with advertisements in some of the leading newspapers and over FM radio and the campaign seemed to have found many takers. ?Many people from various corners of the NCR are coming after reading the advertisements in newspapers and listening it on the FM radio,? says Shivanand Kemni, the prison?s assistant superintendent who is supervising the retailing at Select Citywalk.
Buying house executive Pia Gupta is one such customer who lives in Gurgaon and visited the mall to pick up some TJ?s products on her way home. ?This is a good cause. My dad saw the ad in the newspaper; so he wanted me to pick some stuff from here to support the good cause,? says Gupta while paying for the packets of spices she purchased. Nearby, Fine art student Aastha Sachedev is browsing some of the paintings from the inmates.
?They have a nice range of products,? said Ruby Lakra, assistant store manager at Kimaya store in the mall who is visiting the stall again a day after she picked some snacks from the TJ?s stall. The eight stalls rake in sales of about R50,000-100,000 on weekdays and the revenues swelled even further over the weekend.
TJ?s was born more than a decade ago and over the years, the authorities also received certifications for complying with global standard and practices including various ISO norms. Authorities are currently not only planning to increase more products to the TJ?s portfolio but also making a bid to build a brand equity among the consumers.
Buoyed by their experience at the mall, authorities are planning to approach other malls for similar retailing exercises. Also on cards is a permanent stall at Select Citywalk.
?The mall experience has been a big boost for us and we are planning to talk to the mall to have a permanent stall there if it works out,? Sharma of Tihar jail says. ?As we cannot pay the kind of rents other stalls pay; we will try to find a way with the mall owners,? he adds.
If that succeeds, TJ?s could have fixed stalls at various other malls as well, Sharma says. Meanwhile, authorities are planning to add more products to the TJ?s brand. Next, the brand will be extended to soaps and detergents and a blanket unit will also come up in the jail premise. TJ?s clocked Rs 17 crore revenues in the fiscal year ended March this year and it is expected to jump to Rs 20 crore in the current fiscal year.