::: Star Weekend Magazine :::

Trends

Promoting
Deshi Brands

Elita Karim

Eid shopping has just become easier and fun at one of the busiest shopping malls in Dhaka this season. Basundhara City Shopping Complex has gone a step further to bring some of the most popular and trendy deshi design stores together on one platform. Deshi Dosh is a common platform shared by ten of the most popular design stores in Bangladesh, which showcase exclusive Bangladeshi fabrics and designs. Located on Level 7 of Basundhara City Shopping Complex, Deshi Dosh takes up a space of 23,000 square feet at one of the corners. Shada Kalo, Rong, Kay Kraft, Nipun, Probartona, Anjans, Deshal, Bibiyana, Banglar Mela and Nogordola cover an equal space of 1,600 square feet each at the Deshi Dosh corner, creating an extraordinary blend of fabrics and ideas.

The initial idea had actually emerged when Major Mehedi, the General Manager of the shopping Complex had suggested something similar to Khaled Mahmud, the Director of Kay Kraft. “I took a little time to think about it,” says Khaled. “And then invited all the owners and representatives of all the other stores to sit together and ponder on the concept.” Khaled says that the get-togethers that they would have were not only to initiate ideas on Desho Dosh only. “I had always wanted a monthly interaction where we could talk about the particular business that we are involved in,” he says. “There are so many new policies that are being introduced every day, so many that should be introduced, promotion of Bangladeshi products and so on. Deshi Dosh was just one of the many topics that we discussed on and it was quite a constructive one.” Khaled says that there are many more stores in the city which they hope will become a part of the team later on, for instance Jatra, Kumudini and Tangail Shari Kutheer, three of the most popular design stores in the country.

Walking into the Deshi Dosh corner, one will surely be mesmerised by the simple yet classy decor linking all the ten design stores together. “When we were thinking of a design for Deshi Dosh, we wanted to show the uniformity and the unity of the Bangladeshi handlooms, fabrics and designs represented by all the shops, to the onlooker,” says Khaled. “At the same time, we wanted each design shop to maintain its own exclusivity.” Clearly, Deshi Dosh has broken all barriers; glass walls dividing the shops, open ceilings and a massive space in the middle let the shops and their workers to mingle with each other and also customers who walk in. The space also has a few benches where they can relax and have some of the snacks from the Food Corner at one corner of the space, thanks to Probartona.

Deshi Dosh, however, is yet to pick up sales, as it is difficult for people to come in to the shop on weekdays after iftar trying to meet the 8:00 pm deadline. However, on weekends, it is a different story all together. An executive at one of the shops at Deshi Dosh says that on the first Friday after Deshi Dosh launched, the particular shop earned a profit of at least 3 lakh takas. “The place was filled with customers running from one shop to the next,” he says. Khaled says that Deshi Dosh would be a wonderful experience for customers who are extremely particular about designs and prefer to move from one design house to another to choose the perfect style. “We have almost all the major design houses here on one platform,” says Khaled. Why would anyone, therefore, want to miss this opportunity of getting everything on a single platter, plus enjoy the bonus feature of not having to face the horrendous traffic in Dhaka city to get from one shop to another?

Deshi Dosh, not only creates an easy platform for the design shops and the customers alike. Khaled says that Deshi Dosh is helping to build and promote this particular sector. Deshi Dosh will also help in ensuring proper development and implementation of policies related to this sector. Creative individuals looking for a break and an opportunity to prove their skills will also be able to work with Deshi Dosh. Deshi Dosh also takes a special stand on deshi products, apparels and designs thus encouraging customers to seek sophisticated and reasonably priced Bangladeshi designs. The team also wants to use Deshi Dosh to promote research and publications as well.

In a nutshell, Deshi Dosh is a fantastic idea, moreover being a grand space to hang out, enjoy some deshi music, food and designs. Besides, Deshi Dosh is also the first ever united venture taken by the major design houses in the city to promote deshi brands and flavour.

Photos: Zahedul I Khan