“Purani jeans aur guitar”. This nostalgic song will soon be on the lips of every Vashi’s customer. The iconic jeans store on Commercial Street founded by Vashi Lakhani in December 1985 officially shut down last Sunday.
There is no dramatic story behind the shutdown. Vashi who turns 65 next month says, “I’ve spent the last 30 years selling jeans to Bangalore. It was time to retire, to spend some time with my family, my wife.” Ask him if the entry of international brands had something to do with the shutdown and his son Tarun who helped him run the shop for the last decade replies, “No. In fact, business only got better. The last five years were very hectic; each day we had more business than the previous day.”
Vashi adds that the international brands were never a threat. Many of these brands actually came to him for inputs on the Indian market when they first opened shop here.
He says: “Long before Levi’s started ‘curve ids’, I was already doing it.” In testimony, Nisha Abdullah who has been shopping with Vashi’s for the last decade says, “Vashi’s sourced great fits in all kinds of shades, much more than what the international brands provided.”
His USP was that he could size people up just by looking at the person. “We understood Indian women well. We didn’t want to make them uncomfortable by subjecting them to measuring tapes. Besides, Indian women are built differently. Unlike other shops which would measure the waist and select a size, I would look at their hips and select one.”
Although most of his customers were women, especially college women, he’s also had a few celebrities visit him. M.F. Hussain came to him in 2003 with specific sartorial requirements, one of which included a set of blue shirts and trousers to match the blue colours of the Indian cricket team. M. F Hussian’s signature was recorded for posterity on one of the wooden panels of the shop, which he now keeps in his home.
Most of the store’s walls are covered with messages or signatures of customers. He said it all started in 2002 after renovation of the store when the walls were stark white. A six-year old girl who came in with her mother wrote on one of the walls and soon others followed suit. The same girl is seen in the Facebook post feeding him a donut, in which he announced the shutdown just last week.
The Facebook post went viral with over 22,000 hits, and ever since Vashi has been bombarded with thousands of calls from loyal customers, some even from Kuwait and China enquiring about the shutdown. Vashi says he didn’t except the announcement to have such a reaction and is overwhelmed by it. Tarun explains, “Over 30 years, we have been building friendships, not a customer base. We treat our customers and cater to each one’s wishes and requirements. “
Even today, the store is filled with college girls trying to get the last of the stock and even a couple of 60 year old women asking why he is shutting down. Rashi Joshi, a customer since last 6 years tells him woefully, “But you are a legacy here. I hope you change your mind. If not, we will miss you.” A sentiment mirrored by every true blue Bangalorean who has shopped here at one time or another.
