Clean-up Act

Sandeep Gajakas can’t understand why people don’t pay more attention to their footwear. “You see people wearing branded clothes, well-set hair and clean socks. But so often, their shoes are filthy,” he says, shaking his head in disbelief. With over a dozen gleaming pairs in his own collection, you could be excused for thinking this is just another fussy dresser, but for the 37-year-old Gajakas, clean shoes means much more. It’s a way of life dating back to his school days and, for the past decade, it has also been a profitable business opportunity. In 1996, an unfortunate episode with the neighbourhood mochi — who sewed through the air cushion insole in a pair of expensive Reebok DMX running shoes, ruining them beyond repair — made Gajakas ponder the lack of a quality service that can clean and repair shoes impeccably. And that led to the birth, in 2003, of The Shoe Laundry (TSL). 

Now a nine-store international chain, TSL created the organised market for shoe cleaning and repair in India. “I didn’t invent the concept that shoes get dirty. I invented the concept of cleaning them properly. All our procedures are methods that I have personally tested,” claims Gajakas. The idea that people who spend thousands on a pair of sneakers and several times that on designer heels will be more than willing to fork out a few hundred to keep those shoes looking good has also spawned a number of similar businesses over the past few years. So you have single-store outfits such as Reboot, Paramount and Glow Shoe Laundry in Mumbai, Futstep in Nashik, Tip Top Shoe Laundry in Indore, Klean N Kare and The Shoe Men in Delhi and Revival Shoe Laundry in Patna, among others. Then there are multi-store chains such as Gajakas’ own TSL, Pressto Zapato and Mr Pronto. And each of these chains is ensuring in its own way that it stays in step with a competitive market.

 Squeaky clean

Perhaps understandably, when Gajakas, a graduate from the National Institute of Fire Engineering, first broached the idea of setting up a shoe repair business, his family wasn’t enthusiastic. Qualified professionals themselves, they couldn’t understand why an engineer would want to make a career out of cleaning shoes. But Gajakas was determined to see his idea through and spent several months on “research” — cleaning dozens of different types of shoes collected from friends and family — to understand the ways to treat different materials and problems. In June 2003, he distributed flyers around Andheri, the Mumbai suburb where he lives, advertising “India’s first professional footwear laundry and refurbishing service”. The response was immediate — Gajakas recalls answering more than 50 calls the first day itself — and positive. He promptly quit his job with a call centre to launch TSL from his workshop — his bathroom.

“I started this business when spare parts for shoes were not readily available. I would experiment with different materials, often spending thousands on something that wouldn’t work. There was a lot of money spent on research,” says Gajakas. That wasn’t the only expense. While he started the business with a minimum charge of Rs 99, costs were often much higher — picking up and delivering shoes across the city meant high travel expenses. Apart from an initial Rs 12,000, over the next few years, Gajakas invested a total of #20 lakh, ploughing back his earnings into the business. That has paid back — from earning Rs 2.5 lakh in the first year, TSL is now a Rs 1.8-crore business.

So, just what does TSL do? “We do for shoes what garages do for cars,” laughs Gajakas. Once customers call the company’s helpline, their shoes are picked up, cleaned, repaired and delivered back to them within 48 hours. Cleaning is a 15-step process that involves washing the shoe, soaking it, washing it again and stitching up minor tears, etc. Gajakas has developed what he calls “technologies” to fix different problems in shoes, from fixing a tear in the net of a sports shoe, to repairing the heel on a stiletto or a chipped strap. “People would say, ‘Kuchh toh karo (do something)’ and that would push me to find solutions,” he says.

While rates have gone up to a minimum Rs 180-200, depending on the workshop’s location, Gajakas says each workshop now receives at least 50 pairs a day for repair. And most of that growth is through word of mouth. “People who liked my service in Andheri would tell their friends and relatives across the city and soon I began getting customers from all over Mumbai,” he says. 

With expansion on his mind, from 2009 onwards, Gajakas began standardising all the processes required for his company and looked into spare parts availability outside the city. In 2011, TSL opened its first franchise workshop, not in any Indian city but in Bhutan. Now, TSL has eight franchises under the ShoeVival brand, of which two are outside India, in Bhutan and Kenya. By end-2014, Gajakas aims to add another six. What will help going forward is that TSL has tied up with major footwear brands such as Puma, Nike and Reebok to repair their shoes at its workshops across the country.  When customers bring in shoes that are out of warranty or are too damaged for in-store repairs, they are directed to TSL, which repairs them at a slightly discounted rate. Around 10% of the company’s customers now come through this route. Every costly shoe that is defective and within the warranty period, if replaced, is a loss to the footwear company, points out Gajakas. “When we refurbish it, the brand pays our service but saves on replacing the shoe. If the shoe is out of warranty, the customer pays for the service but is happy that the life of the shoe has been extended. Customers are happy and so is the store.”

 Odd jobs and rich repairs

Where Gajakas prides himself on returning customers shoes that gleam like new, Abhishek Dhingra takes pains to emphasise that his business is not a shoe laundry. Rather, Mr Pronto, which has 11 operational stores across Chennai, Bengaluru and Delhi, is a chain of fix-it stores with an emphasis on speedy turnaround. “We try to do most of the repairs at the store and return it to the customer immediately. Unlike other similar businesses, our focus is on repair that makes shoes last longer, and not cleaning,” says the 38-year-old co-founder, who started Mr Pronto with his father in 2003.

"Unlike other businesses, our focus is mainly on repair that lasts longer, not just cleaning" - Abhishek Dhingra, co-founder, Mr Pronto

The idea for the store, which struck Dhingra when he saw shoe-repair services in the Philippines and Europe during his college days, has now evolved to multiple services, from changing the sole to orthopaedic adjustments for people with foot problems, as well as repairs of bags, luggage and baby strollers. Repair charges range between Rs 30 and Rs 1,000, depending on the work and, on average, each store receives around 25 pairs a day during the week, going up to 40 on weekends.

Mr Pronto started its services in Chennai and now has six outlets in the city, three in Bengaluru and one in Delhi; of these, two are franchised operations. The machinery and material is imported from various countries, with over 70 suppliers on the rolls. 

Dhingra is currently in talks with potential investors and declines to share revenue and investment figures, but points out that all outlets, whether company-owned or franchises, typically break even at the operational level within three months. “We are now looking at expanding to a 40-50 store chain in the next three years,” he says. The plan is to triple the size of the company and the focus, he adds, will be on North India. Outlets are generally located in malls and high streets, but now he plans to set them up at metro stations as well, with two in Bengaluru in the first phase. Each outlet is manned by two to five workers, depending on how busy the store is. Workers are sent to all stores across India to train under former employees on the different kinds of repair works that Mr Pronto offers. 

If TSL is focusing on establishing a pan-India presence for its shoe cleaning service and Mr Pronto is setting up as odd-job man extraordinaire, Pressto Zapato is finding a niche for itself in catering to the big spenders. A more recent entrant in the market, Pressto, a premium laundry service, started its shoe-cleaning wing in 2012, targeting owners of high-end and luxury footwear and leather products. There’s a growing tribe of Indians who won’t step out in anything less than a pair of Jimmy Choos or Christian Louboutins and need to ensure that their Birkins stay in ship shape. That’s where Zapato — Spanish for shoes — steps in. “It is difficult to categorise our customers into socioeconomic groups, but the bags and shoes we get for repairs are all high-end brand such as Gucci, Chanel and Louis Vuitton,” says Esther Lennaerts, executive chairperson, Pressto Zapato. 

"All the shoes and bags we get are high-end brands such as Gucci, Chanel and Louis Vuitton" - Esther Lennaerts, executive chairperson, Pressto Zapato

The chain currently has 23 stores across posh locations in Mumbai and Delhi, with plans to open two more stores by end-2014. “We plan on aggressively expanding out of attractive locations that are easily accessible to our customers,” says Lennaerts, adding that Zapato has a dedicated customer base of around 2,000 in Mumbai and 1,000 in Delhi who seek it out on a monthly basis. 

Given the price tags of the luxurious accessories it handles, Zapato’s charges, too, are higher than other shoe-cleaning services in the country. Basic cleaning starts at Rs 350 and goes up to several thousand for repair and recolouring. All equipment has been imported from Spain and the Netherlands and Pressto has even brought in experts from Europe to train the seven to nine workers employed at each outlet.

 Best foot forward

All three chains agree that there’s a growing market for their service — as people spend more on their accessories, they won’t be satisfied with the rough-and-ready work a cobbler will do in case any repair work is required. In any case, the neighbourhood mochi is himself part of a vanishing breed of traditional odd-job men, which means the dependence on an organised service is only likely to increase. 

And not surprisingly, the biggest hurdle in this race remains the same that the unorganised industry faces: finding good workers. Cleaning and repairing shoes isn’t a job many youngsters want to take up when there are similar-paying jobs in retail and the restaurants business. “Not everyone wants to be associated with a business that involves cleaning footwear. Even if we do find people for the job, they eventually succumb to peer pressure and quit,” complains Gajakas.  

Dhingra also faced similar challenges when he started his business but today, he says the situation has improved slightly. “I offer better salaries and take care of their accommodation and the education of their children, so it is easier for me to find technicians. But it is a challenge to attract well-educated people to work for me,” he adds. 

Apart from fighting the reluctance on part of potential employees, it doesn’t help that these businesses also have to battle fragmented demand. The bright, shiny side? With towering disposable incomes, India’s spendthrift upper middle class has the moolah to fork out good cash — both for hot shoes and for the hot steam treatment the pairs would need after a night out in the city. This should come as foot-tappin’ music to Dhingra and co.’s ears, for sure.