Chalavadi has built Sai Silks (Kalamandir) into a formidable brand across South India, with 46 showrooms in four states: Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Now his love for the six yards is taking him to the IPO market
Team Sai Silks (Kalamandir), from left: Durgarao Chalavadi, whole-time director, head operations (Karnataka); Kalyan Srinivasa Annam, whole-time director & head of advertisement projects; Venkata Rajesh Annam, senior VP-operations (Andhra Pradesh); RB Bharadwaj, senior VP-IT & ecommerce; Mohan Chalavadi, senior VP-operations (Telangana); Jhansi Rani (seated), head-retail; Annam Subash, head of sourcing; Prasad Chalavadi, founder & managing director Image: Vikas Chandra Pureti for Forbes India
October 2005, Hyderabad. Prasad Chalavadi starts the show with a request. “If you want to see the magic, then please follow the instructions,” says the man from Vijayawada. An excited bunch of around dozen young women and men—including a few employees in a 3,213 square feet outlet where the show was being organised—stayed glued to the gestures of the 37-year-old, and nodded their head in approval. Chalavadi came from a family business of spices, went to Dubai and the US after finishing his college and MBA, armed himself with software programming courses, and worked with an IT firm for a few years. He then came back to India in 2003 and hosted his maiden show two years later.
(This story appears in the 12 August, 2022 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)