Meet the 18-year-vintage entrepreneur whose startup ALMARI wants to be the caretaker of your clothes
How regularly does it appear which you spend hours rummaging via your closet and still cannot locate the set of clothes you need for that special event or that important meeting? Even if you find it finally, it’s far either crumpled or unclean or has bits and buttons lacking. Basically, not ‘ready-to-put on’. People usually throw tantrums at this level. Where others saw melancholy, 18-yr-old Leher Ali – a commerce scholar from Mumbai – saw a business possibility. After a few R&D, she released ALMARI, a garage and protection service for occasional wears, enterprise suits, and top-rate garments. AMARI (which means that cloth cabinet in Hindi) selections up garments from the doorstep, stores them in a comfortable area (a “warehouse”), dust and steam-irons them, and promises them as and when wanted. On unique requests, ALMARI additionally facilitates dry-cleaning offerings for clients. Lee’s mother, Santa Ali, joined her as Co-founder, and the startup commenced operations in Mumbai 4 months in the past.
The hassle that solves ALMARI’s idea is undoubtedly new, probably even unparalleled in India. Some would possibly even cringe at the concept of storing luxurious garments out of doors in their very own houses. But, Founder-CEO Leher asserts that there’s an exact want for a provider like this, specifically in a metropolis like Mumbai where actual property costs are prohibitive, and people live in matchbox-sized residences that can’t house ample, spacious cupboards. She tells YourStory, “Many of us, along with me, stuff our occasional put on in suitcases or packing containers. But, when you take them out, they may be in an unwearable circumstance, and you spend hours cleaning and ironing them. It’s an ordeal, and you wish there were a carrier to keep those quality clothes neatly and properly. We have locations to dump soft toys and stuff, but nothing for attire.”
Its middle proposition of ‘Dress Tumhare, Space Hamari’ has already wooed approximately one hundred customers, such as guys, who’re willing to ship their enterprise fits, blazers, and jackets to the startup’s 800-square feet ‘warehouse in Malad – a suburb in northwestern Mumbai. ALMARI’s facility can house about 2,000 clothing at any point, and the startup plans to feature two more garage facilities this 12 months. Interest from other cities is likewise pouring in. Lee says, “We have been incorrect in wondering that during Delhi, people have huge homes to keep their lehenga-cholis and other top-rate put on. We get maximum calls from Delhi, Chennai, and even Ahmedabad and Surat. People want us to launch there quickly.”
