How a Mumbai man fabricated a Rs 7.5 Crore turnover customized clothing brand in Brampton, Canada

India-conceived Shakti Anand Srivastava runs an effective customized fitting store called 'Stava' in Brampton, Canada, where the dresses are made in India and just the last fitting is finished in the store. "At Stava we do custom fitting, which is no joking matter in Canada. We don't do huge volumes yet we get incredible benefits," says Anand. With the greater part of the work rethought, he makes do with only two representatives in the store.

India-born Shakti Anand Srivastava runs a successful bespoke tailoring store called ‘Stava’ in Brampton, Canada, where the dresses are made in India and only the final fitting is done in the store.

“At Stava we do custom tailoring, which is a big deal in Canada. With most of the work outsourced, he manages with just two employees in the store. “I have subcontracted with tailors in Brampton, who do the fittings and finalize the suits. The store which remained shut during the pandemic is now back in business and is expecting a turnover of Rs 18 crore this year. His journey as an entrepreneur began in Mumbai in 1991 when he started a shirt manufacturing unit in Andheri at the age of 26 with about 50 machines and 65 employees.

As the business was growing, he tied the knot with Diana DeMello in 1992 and found a life partner who would share his dreams and be the pillar of support that he truly needed. “We associated with Canadian companies, Reitmans and Le Chateau through buying agencies and realized that there was less competition in the children’s wear segment,” says Anand.

They split the business into four units and sold each of the units to four of their own employees (master tailors) and received the payment in installments. The garment unit that Anand started in Dubai with his friend was shut down within six months as they found it difficult to run the business in the then-existing market conditions there. “I learned about transformers and switch gears, right from their manufacturing and other small details at a factory in India,” remembers Anand, going on to share how he decided to shift to Canada from Dubai.

In 2005 my wife shifted to Canada with the kids. I, too, started slowly making a move towards Canada while still running my business in Dubai.” He began to explore options in Canada and zeroed in on a custom clothing brand for men and named it Stava - which is the last part of his surname ‘Srivastava.’ He started Stava in 2007 from a small rented outlet in a plaza in Brampton with a single employee. The stitching was done in Mumbai, and he had a few tailors in Brampton on contract who would do the final fitting of the suits.

I invested about Rs 2 crore to set up this store on a 10,000 sq ft space and worked on the interiors,” says Anand, who exited from his Dubai business fully in 2012 and began to give his complete attention to Stava since then. “I was almost broke in 2010 when I set up the store but started with a vision to build my own brand. After investing a lot of money in 2010 in the store, I was almost broke for the next four years,” he says.

Talking about the business model and the USP of the brand, Anand elaborates, “Our suits are made of superior quality fabric like Raymond, Century, and BSL, which is stocked in Mumbai. “The employees at the store take the measurements and send them to the manufacturing partner in Mumbai, India. Our suits start at CAD 700 (about Rs 42,000) and can go up to CAD 1500 (about Rs 1 lakh).

I worked there till 1990.” In 1991, he started his own shirt manufacturing unit. Talking about his private life, he says, “I am a complete outdoor person, and set off for summer and winter trails or camping with my wife as and when I get time.

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