In conversation with Aditya Modak, Co-founder-Director, Gargi by P N Gadgil and Sons

Our strategies are in place, and we are here for the long game, asserts Aditya Modak, Co-founder-Director of Gargi by P N Gadgil and Sons.

With a 185-year-old history, PNG & Sons is one of the oldest brands in the country. With the launch of Gargi, a fashion jewellery brand, it is now serving style to the current generation. What is your view about the fashion jewellery brand for the coming years?  

Gargi by PNGS operates in the highly competitive fashion jewellery market. Unorganized players have so far dominated this sector. The overall opportunity size was over USD 1.7 billion in 2019; by 2027, this is expected to be over USD 2.12 billion. At Gargi, we have built a quality-oriented business model offering 92.5 per cent Sterling Silver and Brass jewellery that is high-quality and stylish. Our TG is Indian women who are conscious of their appearance and use fashion jewellery as a style statement and extension of their persona. The company operates through an e-commerce website and plans to enter the offline retail segment. 

Presently, what are your top 3 strategic priorities?  

Our top 3 priorities are as follows:  

1. Creating a fashion jewellery brand with high brand recall. We focus on offering the best quality, with a wide variety and the best prices. This will ensure we capture the market and create a brand identity.  
2. Availability of products – We want to ensure that we are present across all formats, like the e-retail and the physical retail forms. For this, we are tying up with retail outlets in a Shop-in-Shop format and the other best available formats.  
3. Ground-to-ear approach – We are interested in ground reality and are heavily invested in data and other insights. We try to understand closely what the consumer is looking for and pay attention to queries and customer feedback.  

Can you elucidate on the competitive intensity in the market and how you plan to tackle the same? What are your expansion plans?  

We are late entrants in the segment; before us, many players have already been in the market. These players are from well-endowed companies and have created a brand presence. But how we managed to grow month on month since inception and keep the growth trajectory on track gives us the confidence to say that we are on the right track. Our strategies are in place, and we are here for the long game. Our ethos and values are derived from our parent company P N Gadgil and sons.  

 We also plan to expand to the franchising and Shop-in-Shop (SIS) models and invest in brand-building exercises heavily. We target a turnover of Rs 100 crore by the end of the financial year 2024/25.