Jojan Thomas, Joy Alukkas
The jewellery retail scenario in Asian dominated areas looks underdeveloped and primitive as compared to rest of London. Visiting jewellery markets in Southall and the Green street gives you a feeling as if you are Delhi’s Karol Bagh market.
All the jewellery stores in these areas have two sliding doors that are locked from inside. One has to press the bell in order to enter a store. There have been increasing instances of armed robberies at retail outlets that has necessitated the need for caution.
With the exception of Joy Alukkas, all jewellery stores are mom and pop stores. Joy Alukkas set up a store on the Green Street way back in 2009. Their store is comparatively smaller as compared to any of their stores you find in an Indian city. Visuals of film start Kajol adorn the stores and there are danglers announcing the Big Summer Sale offering 0 per cent deduction on old gold exchange. Jojan Thomas, the showroom manager informed me that the store has been in operation for the last ten years. It has been doing reasonably well. The clientele of this store is predominantly Bengali Muslims of Bangladeshi origin who prefer to buy plain gold jewellery. As 85 per cent of the customers are Bengalis, the store is stocked with plain gold jewellery. They prefer to get married in the UK. Weddings are big buying occasions. The fastest moving product categories are bangles and chains. Joy Alukkas’ brand ambassador Kajol finds an instant connect with Bengalis.
British Bangladeshis are people of Bangladeshi origin who have attained citizenship in the United Kingdom, through immigration and historical naturalisation. During the 1970s, large numbers of Bangladeshis immigrated to the UK, primarily from the Sylhet Division in north-eastern Bangladesh. The largest concentration lives in east London boroughs, such as Tower Hamlets. They buy gold jewellery for adornment and investment.