Consumers prefer buying at grocery stores where shopping is no more a chore. Peshawari Supermarket in Chandigarh is one among the few grocery retail outlets where shoppers enjoy full luxury when browsing the well stocked shelves of a variety of items from different national and international bands all along its own range of packed goods. Peshawari was started as a kirana store by Gyan Prakash Gawri and Hari Ram Gawri in 1957 and later established to Peshawari Supermarkets. Today they have two outlets operational in Sector- 19 Chandigarh and NAC Manimajra, Chandigarh. Speaking with Retail4growth, Rohit Gawri, Director, Peshawari Supermarkets Pvt Ltd shares the store’s journey and what made Peshawari score over other supermarkets in tri-city area.

What prompted you to convert Peshawari in to a modern supermarket format?

Well, our parents passed on the grocery business to my brothers and me in 1999. It was the time when the newest generation of the Gawri Family- I, Mohit Gawri and Hitesh Gawri entered the workplace with a simple aim to make the business bigger. We started out with old methods but rapidly shifted to modern ways as we observed a shift in lifestyle, buying patterns and consumer preferences in the tri-city (Chandigarh-Panchkula-Mohali). On the top, we want to strengthen our customer base and the modern supermarket model was the best option to won customers trust.

What differentiates Peshawari from the neighborhood kirana stores? 

Today, we are one among the few players in the tri-city who have deployed modern technologies and methods in their supermarkets. We are also selling our products online at peshawarisupermarket.com with a delivery system. We also have very unique product range so that customers can enjoy full luxury while shopping with us.  Additionally, shoppers get genuine pricing, convenience, variety, quality, quick delivery, easy payment and huge product range etc.

Brief us about the importance of in-store marketing for Peshawari?

Well, this is the basis for our edge over our competitors. We have a very innovative displays which keeps changing every day.  Customers can have a look and feel of every product before buying as we have given visibility to all products in display. For those consumers who are price- sensitive, we highlight special discounts and daily deals. We also offer free sample from some retailers to customers so that they enjoy special shopping experience. Sometime we also run in-store sales activities with retail companies or suppliers too.

Tell us about your expansion plans. 

As the customers’ response to Peshawari has been enthusiastic, we are planning to expand it further with the opening of new stores but we are relying more on franchisee owned company operated (FOCO) model. We want to give opportunity to innovative minds who want to start their entrepreneurial journey either by investing in our business or running business independently on our name at their own risk.