Nostalgia; "Best of the Best" in APAC

During a recent trip to Kolkatta I met an old friend and well wisher; Mr. S K Chowdhury (or Subrata as he is fondly called) of Music World. We met in 1997, when we were both toiling hard to open the first of its kind music store in India. It was a futuristic store and we have some great memories of the various little incidents leading up to the launch including an awkward moment with a leading star, whom we had approached to launch the store. I used to be involved in the marketing for Music World till I got pulled away into other formats and rolls.

But being in the same office it was but natural that we meet and catch up daily. In fact the day would seem incomplete if we had not done so. Being a part of the start up team we also shared a fierce pride in having started specialty retail in India. When we met recently it was but natural that we should recall one of the most memorable instances and that's what I would like to share.

One of the recognitions for the pioneering effort of the RPG Retail team was being awarded the "Top Retailer of India" and more importantly the "BEST OF THE BEST" award across the Asia Pacific region. Five such top retailers were selected for the "Best of the Best" award out of entries from countries like Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, etc.

The then head of RPG Retail directed Mr. Chowdhury and myself to attend the function in Singapore and receive the award on behalf of the team. The function was held on 28th October 2004 and we knew that we had been short listed for the Top Retailer of India. We were both expecting that and quite excited about that itself.

Five retailers from across APAC were selected for the "Best of the Best" award. Imagine our absolute surprise, happiness, pride, etc., etc., when RPG Retail was announced as being one amongst this five! A memorable day for the team and more importantly for Indian Retail and Indian Professionals. We could hold our own and come out on tops while being compared in an industry where operators in all the other countries had years and years of experience as compared to the RPG Retail team, which had been running the show for Just over 8 years!!