Grand Sweets & PSA

When I came back from India, I got good amount of rice-mixes which can be had with rice. Thanks to my Chithappa who introduced me to Grand Sweets sometime back, I have been enjoying tasty food here. These guys, though might be a little expensive for the common man are known for their quality of sweets and mixes they serve.

Their location and the way they run their business is a breath of fresh air. They try to make it as an experience. Liked it. They operate from a bungalow in Gandhi Nagar at Adayar, Chennai. The front part of their house is the place where the business happens. As soon as you enter, you get in touch with one of the sales person, choose your sweets after which you are given a token number. Till your order gets packed, you are made to wait. This is the time that people really look forward as they serve good amount of freebies to enjoy during the waiting period. You get hot and spicy Puliyogara or sweet Sakkarapongal or Kesari etc. They serve in such a sumptuous quantity that, by the time you are finished, your order is ready.

The concept of Broken Sweets is something which needs a mention. If you were to buy any sweet item it will cost you say X Rupees. The same item is sold separately at a lower rate because of mishandling due to packaging and this is quite a hit among the customers as they specifically ask for the Broken Sweets or Savories. Knowing that the broken sweets will cannibalise their unbroken sweets, they dont sell broken items regularly. They hold the broken items sales back and give them at intervals.

They just dont restrict their business with sweets alone. They have chaats/chettinad snacks/rice mixes/pickles etc in their menu for us to enjoy. If your order is more than 500 bucks, you get good discount on the books they sell. Yes they have a small collection of Hindu Philosophy, Mythology books. The junta keeps on coming to them just for the sheer experience and the quality of their products. You can go anytime and see the place crowded with the middle class mamas and mamis. I have been there many times but this time, I was observing them with real interest and could make out why they are succesful as they are.

"Athithi Devo Bhava" - Guest is like God and these guys truly know that their Customers are God to them. Kudos to them for their excellent service !!!

It was Good Friday and we had a get together at Arun George's place. I fell in love with the place. It was called the "Marina Garden" and the condo was huge. Nice Barbeque place they had and we went there around 7.45 PM and had fun till 11 PM. Later we went to Arun's apt and enjoyed till 1. Me and Mani were saying that we should shift to something similar to that place.
Networked (??) with a lot of new people. Siddharth and Shivani, Olivier, Serene, Siddharth and the other NBS stalwarts. Dada was having fun with full enthusiasm.

Moy and me were discussing about PSA on our way back and how they are slowly losing out to other terminals especially PTP terminal in Malaysia. Since I did some profiling work about PSA, I knew what Moy was talking. PSA, was one of the early adopters of technology. As early as 1991 or 1992, they implemented RFID solutions. Their CITOS (Computer Intergrated Terminal Operating System) and Portnet solutions were their pillars of strength. But their business is kinda taking a beating because of the concept "Commoditization of Services/Technology". Peter Keen also emphasized the point during his lectures. As the technology/service providers operate in a Product development mode these days, the technological advantage can be obtained by all. But PSA has also started to bounce back after 2001/2002 dip. Hope they get better and better. Now It is going to be tough for them though !!!