‘World’s oldest’ barber shop comes to Ahmedabad
After capturing the premium space in men’s grooming in cities of Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Gurgaon and Hyderabad, the oldest brand holding a Guinness Book of World Records has entered Gujarat with its 12th store in India within a period of three to four years after setting its foot in India.
The world’s oldest barbershop from England, Truefitt & Hill established in 1805 with a legacy of clients from King George III, Mahatma Gandhi, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Lord Byron, Frank Sinatra, Alfred Hitchcock, Laurence Olivier, Jamnalal Bajaj, Prince of Wales, Duke of Edinburgh and Winston Churchill to name a few to its list of current patrons that include actors, politicians, cricketers, businessmen, industrialists, ambassadors and diplomats and even young boys has opened its store in the UNESCO World Heritage City of Ahmedabad.
After capturing the premium space in men’s grooming in cities of Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Gurgaon and Hyderabad, the oldest brand holding a Guinness Book of World Records has entered Gujarat with its 12th store in India within a period of three to four years after setting its foot in India. Complete with a royal suite for clients looking for a complete private experience, 4 barber chairs and a pedicure room.
Hopeful that the city has a demand in this niche space of a premium experience in men’s grooming, the franchise holder of Ahmedabad store Nandita Teaotia who is a professional landscape architect says, “The stores in Mumbai are already serving to clients from Ahmedabad and Surat, so much so, that a few even drive down from Surat to Mumbai to get the experience Truefitt and Hill offers them.”
Not stopping at Ahmedabad, they have plans to expand to other cities of Gujarat too. “Though there is no immediate plan but certainly in coming 2-3 years we would have more stores in Ahmedabad followed by Surat and Vadodara,” added Gautam Teaotia, the franchise partner.
By the end of this year, the master franchise Lloyds Luxuries Limited has plans to explore the demand in smaller cities by opening stores in Chennai, Pune, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Indore.
Opened nearly ten days back without any marketing gimmicks, the Teaotia’s claim to have already clocked an overwhelming response from some of the who’s who of the city and registered several queries for members.
“Since out business is majorly based on reference of our existing clients as so far 70 percent of our new business is derived from reference of our existing clients we do not believe in ‘into your face’ marketing gimmicks. Instead of grand launch we would prefer inviting members and their friends for an experiential service, through tactics like tying up with a luxury car company or golf clubs to reach out to the correct type of audience,” shares Nandita.
The store’s ambience and layouts are as per Truefitt & Hill’s global standards, and the services and products are uniform across all stores in the world. For example, the royal signature shave is 45-minutes long ‘luxury of a timeless straight razor shave’–it starts with a hot towel, a moisturiser, shaving cream, a massage.
The store also offers men grooming products like pre-shave oil, shaving cream, colognes, aftershaves, bath and body products, shampoo, conditioner, shaving kits and even souvenirs.
