Bustling Chala, with its warren of shops, was once the premier wholesale market of erstwhile Travancore, one that is said to have been in existence since the 18th century. Today, the market is as busy as ever, many of the shops of yore are still to be found hidden among the busy by lanes and goods are to be had at bargain rates. However, the market as such has lost much of its appeal to ordinary shoppers mostly due to the supermarkets and mega stores that have popped up all across town. Now, bargain shopping in Chala is just a click away! A bunch of enterprising city-based youngsters, have started an online store >Chalai.in, dedicated solely to the goods of Chala market.
Friends and IT professionals Jasim Shaj, Sherin Shajahan, Kathu A.N., Liju K. Thomas, and Sujith R.S., who run the one-year-old start-up Milliminds Software Solutions, are the brains behind the two-week-old venture. “Like elsewhere, the city too is increasingly going online to shop. We wanted to start an online store that was different from what’s already available, something niche yet viable, something exclusively for Thiruvananthpuram. That’s when we struck upon the idea of bringing Chala online,” says Jasim, speaking for his colleagues, all of them graduates of the Noorul Islam College of Engineering, Thuckalay.
“As many a seasoned shopper in the city would tell you, Chala market has the best quality products at the cheapest of rates. It also has a mind-blogging variety of products on sale, from vegetables, hardware/tool shops, household items, jewellery, handicrafts, photo frames, perfumes, spices and even scrap. Different kinds of goods are to be found in different sections of the market. Yet, for many people shy away from shopping at Chala and only those who buy wholesale go there. For one, the traffic is such that it’s a nightmare to find parking space. Even if you get a space it’s a maze in there and it’s very difficult to find what you want unless and otherwise you know where you are going,” explains Jasim.
With Chalai.in, all you need is to go online, search for the items you want and order. The young entrepreneurs will do the rest – the buying, packing and delivering, taking cash on delivery for the purchases and their services. “We have rented a space in Chala to keep the stock and for quality control purposes,” says Jasim. He adds that initially they had a tough time convincing the shopkeepers of Chala to sign up for the venture. “Once they started to see the business potential though, they were sold on it,” he explains.
As of now, only fruits, vegetables and provisions are available at wholesale rates and delivery is only within the city and nearby areas. “The response has been great so far, much greater than we expected actually. Our idea is to gradually increase our stock over the course of a year. By next Onam, we hope that Kerala’s busiest street market will be online in entirety.”
For more information, check out >http://chalai.in/
