Travel accessories retailer Witco pulls down shutters after 70 yrs

Chennai: With Covid changing travel forever, bags and travel accessories retailer Witco has called it quits, pulling down the shutters on 70 years of retailing.
Covid induced travel restrictions have crippled travel business with airlines, luggage retailers and the hospitality sector reeling under losses. “We had reported a 20% YoY growth till demonetization in 2016.Since then, we have seen only negative growth and this year was a blow. We do not expect business to come back to redeem even if the lockdown is lifted, especially after large corporations cut costs on business travel and the work from home concept is the new accepted norm. And imposition of Goods and Services Tax also created chaos,” its co-owner VP Harris said. Witco was started in 1951 by founder MPC Mohamed and was taken over by his sons — VP Nurdeen and VP Harris — after his demise. Witco announced the closure of 11 shops across Chennai, Trichy and Kozhikode. It had 30 employees.
Driven by 70% of its business from premium luggage business for travel, he said that there was no hope “at the end of the tunnel as multiple countries have imposed travel restrictions”. Schoolbags, office bags and accessories consist of the rest 30% of business. “Unlike other retailers, we pay new rentals which are updated as per the market standards. After the first lockdown we got a 50% waiver on rent from a few owners, however we cannot expect the same again. We have also tried adopting online business, but we did not succeed as customers still prefer to check the luggage physically before placing an order,” Harris said.
“We are happy to announce that we are under no debt to anyone. We have settled all employees with their gratuity payment, which was smooth with our tie up with LIC Gratuity Policy. Even among our suppliers, we had requested them to take back their last supplies which happened without any hiccups,” Harris said.
C Venkat Subramanyam, founder and director of Veda Corporate Advisors, investment bankers, said, “Witco is a well respected brand. However, regional speciality retailers like them face scaling challenges. They have to compete with multiple players — both online and offline. With the major luggage brands opening and expanding their franchise stores, it has become difficult for speciality retailers. Between 2005 and 2010, there was a large availability of capital for their expansion, however, many retailers missed this opportunity and now face a hardship.”