Grit, glitter and growth

52 outlets in 7 countries. A turnover of Dh500 million last year. 3,000 staff members. An IPO in the offing. Joy Alukkas, says Shiva Kumar Thekkepat, is on a high.

He appears unassuming to the point where he begins to alarm you. Despite running a multi-million dollar (Dh500 million last year) retail gold and diamond jewellery business halfway across the world, Joy Alukkas wears his success lightly. Unless you have met him before, it's difficult to identify him as a man with the golden touch. If he is seated in a huddle with his employees in his offices at Gold Land in Dubai, you might walk by and not know he's the boss. (But if you want to know how to spot him in that huddle, here's a hint: look for the person without a tie or a jacket, who doesn't raise his voice and always wears a beatific smile.)

Welcome to the world of Joy Alukkas, where nothing is impossible. The group has 52 outlets spread over the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, India, London and "We'll be opening 10 outlets this year in India ... in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Tiruchi," he says. He has facts and figures on his fingertips and needs no one standing behind him clutching a folder to remind him of how to run his own business.

When he talks about his new showroom in Bur Dubai, it is simply a fact he is stating regarding its size. "It is the largest in the Middle East,'' he says, the expression on his face a half and half of a smile and a straight look. "Seven thousand square feet, with valet parking. There will be a design studio attached, with a designer on hand to create designs on a computer. And what he creates for you will be delivered within 30 days.''

What catches your attention is not so much what he says as how he says it.

Alukkas knows the importance of what he's saying. But his sentences don't end with exclamations. What he wants is to make you exclaim at his achievements. And therein lies his success.

Finding the needle in a haystack

Alukkas' success is a result of his foresight. In 1987, when the five brothers who initially comprised the Alukkas jewellery group were still a team, he was intrigued by all the wealth that flowed back into his home state of Kerala from expatriates in the Middle East. He saw a market untapped, made a trip to the UAE, gauged the enormous potential and managed to convince his more conservative brothers to make a foray in Abu Dhabi.

Dubai, Sharjah, Al Ain and Ras Al Khaimah followed in quick succession.

From there to other GCC countries was a natural progression.

Going it alone since 1999, Alukkas returned home to open a few outlets in his native state of Kerala. Soon he started expanding not within the state, but in neighbouring Tamil Nadu and other states including India's capital New Delhi, "as my brothers are already established in my home state".

Alukkas now plans to draw on his international expertise to extend his reach across India to offer a truly international experience to Indian consumers. He started by trading on the goodwill that his family brand already enjoys among the large Malayali community in the Middle East. Now, however, he is taking his global expertise and his sweeping range of jewellery designs ? which were born in this region ? back to India.

Despite such an international business footprint, Alukkas has his ear to the ground, his finger on the pulse (of his customers) and his feet on the ground.

He is too assured in his skin to have to prove to anyone his credentials.

Meeting the South Indian owner of a shop across his own at Gold Land in Dubai, Alukkas enquires about his business. "How are you doing? How is business?" he asks politely. The shop owner looks like he is struck by lightning. He can barely mumble a response. It's obvious that though Alukkas doesn't deliberately work towards a larger-than-life image, others in the business are according him that anyway.

But there is another side to the man. Later, sitting in his office in the same building, he enumerates the many firsts his new jewellery showroom in Chennai will symbolise. The 70,000 sq ft space (the largest in the world, he says) is expected to be the anchor store in a theme building constructed to house only gold jewellery showrooms.

He cannot find the right words to describe what this singularly humongous showroom will achieve in terms of 'firsts'. So he requests an assistant to slip in a CD. Sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words. The huge plasma screen on the wall fills up with some images. Barely two frames into the promotional video and Alukkas says, "It's not the one. I want the one which we compiled." His assistants are a bit off-course at this point.

So Alukkas explains: This one showed the venture from the point of view of the builders. The one Alukkas wants me to see is a promo that encapsulates his point of view. That's the one that matters.

Earlier, while coming up from the showroom after a photoshoot, a delivery boy rides the elevator with us. Alukkas thinks nothing of asking him whether the huge bundle he is carrying is for him (Alukkas). Before the boy can complete his nod, Alukkas is on his knees ripping open the package and scanning the printed invitations which are for the opening of his new showroom in Bur Dubai.

Back in the office, he calls in his general manager and points out the 'mistakes' in the copy. "The card does not get the 'message' across," he says. His voice stays calm. But the message is clear. A tidy sum has to be struck off. "This is like a Christmas card." Later in the day someone will probably have to explain how it ended up that way.

Fact is, Alukkas got to where he is because he is a stickler for detail. Nothing, it seems, escapes his eye.

While our photographer is shooting his pictures in the showroom, he is the only one to notice that one of the spotlight bulbs that highlights the jewellery on display is off. He points it out to a salesman. Why? "It has burnt out," the salesman replies.

"Then why haven't you changed it?" It sounds like easy conversation. But the effect on the salesman is electrifying. You can rest assured no bulbs will from now on go unchanged if they are not shining.

The right man to do the job

Alukkas revolutionised retail jewellery trade in India by choosing the right kind of salespeople for his outlets. "I used to see the kind of untrained people most jewellery shops employed," he says. "I started the system of hiring smart, presentable, well-spoken young men who would be an asset to the company."And believe it or not, that was how the Alukkas group 'conquered' Tamil Nadu.
 
In fact, so successful was the experiment that today Alukkas provides a two-month training to all its sales staff. They are taught how to dress well, conduct themselves with charm and attentiveness and possess the information a customer would want. They are also taught the local language.

"A personal touch ... that's what is required," says Alukkas.

"Our staff are an asset," he says. "I have around 3,000 staff at present. It will increase to 4,000 by the year end." He believes in looking after them well. His 52 retail outlets across the map, including one in London, are probably proof of his claim.

He has also diversified: five textile showrooms (or wedding centres as he prefers to call them), two money exchanges, an IT solutions firm, and property development in his native state, Kerala. The reason: "I want Alukkas to be recognised as a wide spectrum brand."

Purpose achieved, he is slowly weaning himself away from areas where he sees the returns are negligible. "Money exchanges offer very little margin," he says. So, no more investment in them.

So also with his textile and wedding centres. "The textile centre I have in Kollam in Kerala state is spread over 60,000 sq ft," he says. "The returns simply don't justify its continuation. (Instead) I can set up 20 retail jewellery shops in the area." Having said that, he will not also shut down the unit. After all, it's a matter of prestige and "It's a record," he says, displaying for the first time in the interview a sense of pride about the venture.

The Joy Alukkas group will float an IPO (initial public offering) in 2008. He wants to make more money? Why? "I want to grow,'' he says simply.

He doesn't wear flashy clothes or drive around in fancy cars; he doesn't lead a jet-setting lifestyle (despite owning a Vulcan Air aircraft to jet around the B-centres in India). So, why this need to keep expanding?

"If you think it is because I am after more power, no, I am not. It's not the money either. How much money does an individual need anyway? One or two shops are enough for a livelihood."

So, what's the reason?

"I want to be the man with the largest network in India." There it is then, the Alukkas gameplan to conquer the world!

Family

When it comes to his family, Alukkas is a conventional man. He is firm that his only son, John Paul, who is studying for a degree in business administration in Dubai, his country of residence, join him in the family business. "All this is for my family, so why should he seek work elsewhere?"

Is it true that Joy Alukkas is rounding the corner to turn his Rs.1,500-crore empire in India into a public enterprise? "With VAT (value added tax) being implemented in India, the tax structure has stabilised," he says, revealing the reason behind his decision to return to India.

And with his son to back him up soon, his plans are going exactly the way he envisioned. Gold indeed is a stable metal to spin your dreams from!