A weaver first
Nalli Chinnasami Chetty was a Kanchipuram silk weaver from the Padmasali community, weaving from about 1900. When King George V visited India in 1911, he presented him with a Kanchipuram saree. In 1921-22 he brought in synthetic dyes made by a Swiss company.
A shop in a new neighbourhood
He moved to Madras and in 1928 started trading in T. Nagar, a neighbourhood only a few years old, first from a house; a proper showroom followed in 1935. Nalli was among the first shops there, and it helped turn T. Nagar into the city’s shopping hub.
No discounts, extra cloth
Nalli built its name on a few fixed habits. It never ran discount sales, not even in the Tamil month of Aadi, when most shops cut prices. It gave 9.75 yards in a saree where 9 was the norm, and delivered on time. The owner said he had sold wedding sarees to four generations of the same families.
That is a pricing decision with a cost behind it. Extra cloth costs money every time; no discounts means the full price must feel fair every day of the year.
No discounts means the full price must feel fair every day of the year.
Four generations on
The founder’s grandson, Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, took over after 1958. By 2011 the business was valued at about ₹550 crore, with stores across Indian cities and in Singapore and the US, and new formats for designer sarees and furnishings run by the next generation.
Points for a finance reader
- Price for trust, not for the season. A fixed fair price can win more over 90 years than a sale every Aadi.
- Give a little more, on purpose. Three-quarters of a yard extra is a known cost that customers remember.
- Know the craft you sell. A weaver who became a seller knew what a good saree costs to make.