Nina Lekhi is the founder and owner of the Brand "Baggit".. Something about the Diva herself :
" I was always a good student at school" says Nina Lekhi. "I was even Head Girl in my Final year". So when she found out that she had failed her first year exams in the art course at Sophiya Polytechnic, she was reasonably distressed. "It was all so unreal. I remember walking home weeping for almost two months, wondering how someone like me could have failed." Lekhi was blessed with supportive parents - they didn't think less of her because of what had happened - but that was not enough to pull her out of her depression. "I realised that I needed to prove myself and make a success out of myself" she recalls.
With the college allowing Lekhi to re-sit the exam at the end of the year but not letting her attend classes, she found herself with a year of free time. "I took classes in interior design and screen printing." she says, reminiscing over the times she would trek to Abdul Rehman street and haggle wholesale canvas rates while her friends were comfortably taking notes in class.
Deciding to create bags to prove to her teacher that she could be creative, she did her screen prints at home, found a tailor to sew them into bags and hammered in the rivets herself (much to the consternation of neighbours). Lekhi's personal love for fashion soon translated into a trendy, colorful line of holdalls priced at Rs. 65. This was 1985.
"I worked as a salesgirl during the holidays and eventually persuaded my employers to display my bags in their store, I interned with Shyam ahuja and took my bags to Amarsons who luckily started buying. Exhibitions also helped me sell some bags and five years later INXS at Kemps Corner, a store for Baggit merchandise opened. And in a market where office bags hitherto only came in boring black, her range soon found favour with young women looking for trendy accessories.
Marriage came soon after but her husband wanted to pursue spirituality. This came as a surprise to Lekhi, but she took it in her stride and went on to build Baggit even more aggressively than before. Her simplicity and candour came as a surprise to stores like Shopper's Stop, Lifestyle and Pantaloons who started stocking Baggit.
Lekhi's brand Baggit (a name born of Michael Jackson's Beat it one too many times) is now a 10 crore business that has diversified into belts, laptop cases, caps and scarves. Her proudest moment, she says, came when she bought over a Kemp's Corner store that her brother had leased out for many years. Two decades and over ten lakh bags later, meditation and positive thinking keep her going.
The big retail chains mentioned above also admit that Baggit is a brand that they stock due to customer demand. Nina laments that even today, the market for bags is largely unorganized and underpricing is a constant problem everywhere. However, the amount of thought that goes into a Baggit design is what makes the customers come back for more. "Our pockets, zips and compartments are so much more thoughtful. The bling is far lesser and the colours are very fashionable."
Unbelievable but true.
1. Meditation is the only HRD initiative she does, the whole factor takes a meditation break at 12:30.
2. Has been running the factory at zero attrition rate for the last 17 years. All her production is planned according to a nine to six shift.
3. What is so unique about her bags is that she does not use leather and animal skins.
Life has never been easy. From tumultuous ups and downs in college to married life to now a proud mother of a four year- old daughter at 42, Nina has seen it all and single-handedly managed to build a brand that's looked at as the one of the next big retail brands.
FUTURE PLANS
From made in China to made in India
Nina believes that rural development would be an important focus area for Baggit going forward. Ethical entrepreneurship is anyway the need of the hour and what better way to do it than look at making a manufacturing base in our villages and creating economic townships. She's growing at a hectic pace adding stores in Bangalore/Delhi/Mumbai.
Franchising
Lekhi is looking at franchising in a very big way. She's looking at category A towns and franchises who are willing to invest 20-25 crore into the business. These exclusive Baggit stores will be supported in terms of brand visibility and design by Baggit.
Twenty two years of experience will now be put to test! Lekhi is prepared for it in her own serene way. "my customers have bought me so far. Don't see any reason why they should abandon me now." Neither do we!
