One probably assumes he will be paying a fortune for a tailored suit. A walk in one of the outlets of Senor in Goa will change that perception one carries
Be it an ethnic Indian attire like jodhpuri, sherwani, band gala, short and long kurta or bespoke Western three-piece suits, Indo-Western attires, shirts, trousers, pants and even stylish Nehru shirts and Modi jackets. ‘Senor – The Suit People’ specialises in all of these and much more. Single-breasted, double-breasted, lounge suits, dinner suits, business suits, casual suits, tuxedos, the ultra-formal and the ultimate expression of the western suit, wedding suits that mark the journey of the suits from the East to the West – you name it and they have it made for you in less than 12 hours!
‘Senor’ offers the entire wedding dress packages for both brides and grooms under one roof in Margao, Panaji, Vasco and Mapusa. Apart from accessories that match with the dresses, they also have classic and contemporary fabrics with desired texture, shine, fall and quality to meet the specific needs and tastes of the customers.
April-May being the peak season apart from September, October and December at ‘Senor’ all their showrooms are busy handling hundreds of customers on a daily basis and delivering orders of ‘stitched to perfection’ suits and wedding gowns through their multiple outlets across Goa. Having no time to even breathe, the entire family is engaged in taking orders and delivering ready suits with the help of their committed staff members who have divided the work among themselves.
The work seems to be well managed through four sections of employees. The first is the sales staff who take care of the walk-in-customers who come to buy cloth and other accessories on a day-to-day basis. The second are the cutting, drafting and styling people who do the creative work. Then there is work maintenance staff which is responsible for getting orders ready after cutting is done and doing delivery to customers of ready orders. The fourth is the stitching and quality checking staff that keeps a watchful eye on the standard of work. While the sales and maintenance is mostly taken care of by local Goans, the cutting is done by skilled tailors from outside Goa who are trained to give special ‘Senor’ touch to the shapes and styles. There are few Goan cutters too and for stitching there is a mixed staff from Goa as well as from other states.
“We, at Senor, cater only to customers who visit our shops. Of course, there have been instances when on request of customers we have done house visits for measuring elderly or bed ridden customers. But we do it only during off-season and only in extreme cases and for regular customers only,” maintains Roshan Francis, partner at Senor and son of Samson Francis, the founder of ‘Senor’. Samson with his experience of half a century in suit designing and stitching in Mumbai came to Goa in early 2000. After a humble beginning, he has now expanded the business with the help of his two sons.Roshan explains, “My father has a vast experience of 50 years in advanced tailoring. He has been cutting suits and other attires mainly for sizes 50 plus and 60 plus which are very difficult to give shape and requires in-depth knowledge of body shape and the way sleeves fall. It also requires thorough knowledge of different shapes to be given for waist and hip ratio differences.”
In Goa, Senor started in the year 2002 when Samson opened a shop at Aquem in Margao. He had a very humble clientele but satisfaction of customers was his prime objective. After a year or so, in 2003 Samson opened a shop at Pajifond. The shop was located in the interior from the road and everyone discouraged him saying it would be very difficult to run a shop which is not on the road side. But by his sheer determination and hard work Samson turned this shop into a successful venture.
The shop was small and at a time only three or four customers could stand inside it. Roshan recalls, “In the months of October, November and December of 2003 we witnessed queues of 20 to 30 people waiting outside our shop daily in the evenings. These were people who were waiting for their turn to enter the already crowded shop to purchase a suit.”
The first wedding package order came in in 2003 itself. “It was from Mr Franky and we still remember this groom fondly,” smiles Roshan. A year later, in 2004 the business expanded further and Senor added another shop which is a spacious space behind Grace church in Margao. From there onwards the growth graph has been unstoppable and today Senor has captured a big share in the suits segment.
The need to expand to other cities than Margao was felt and Senor opened an outlet at Panaji in 2006, followed by another at Vasco in 2013. Its Mapusa outlet opened in 2016 and a year later, in 2017, Senor Nx showroom was inaugurated at Panaji. And plans of further expansion are in the pipeline.
“We ventured into female apparel sector in 2009 with Senor’s Emmanuel in Margao, followed by Senor Bridals in Panaji where we cater to both retail and wholesale customers in wedding gowns and accessories. Many wedding planners rely on us to surprise the young and demanding bride. Apart from locals, our clientele is from Mumbai, Karwar, Kumta, Honnavar, Bhatkal, Udupi, Manglore, Kerala, Gujarat, Pune and Delhi too,” claims Blaise Naina, partner at Senor and Samson’s son.
‘Senor’ has an interesting family set-up - where most of the members are involved in the business - including the patriarchal head of the family Samson Francis and his wife Molly, their sons Roshan (and his wife Bloswin) Blaise (and his wife Geeshma) as well as twin daughters Bisiya and Buela and their husbands Bijo and Lijo who are also twins. “My brother-in-law Bijowin Abraham is associated with our business too,” briefs Roshan.
“I am proud to admit that business is inbuilt in our DNA and that’s what makes us humble and courteous with customers as well as our employees. While I handle the relatively new Senor Nx showroom in Panaji, dad handles our Margao shops, Blaise is always present in the already popular Senor Panaji showroom and my own brother-in-law Bijowin Abraham takes care of our latest addition, the Vasco showroom,” briefs Roshan whose 50 per cent customers are Goan whereas 20- 25 per cent are NRIs.
