About this episode

The episode explores how Vijay Sales built a ₹13,000 Cr retail empire by thinking differently in a changing market.

Everyone said electronics retail would die. Yet, Vijay Sales built a ₹13,000 Cr empire offline…anyway. So what did they understand that everyone else missed? Not by moving faster… but by thinking differently when everyone else followed the same playbook. In this episode, Shantanu Deshpande (Founder & CEO, Bombay Shaving Company) sits down with Nilesh Gupta (MD, Vijay Sales) to unpack how a 57-year-old business stayed relevant through every wave, from colour TV booms to Amazon, Flipkart, and now quick commerce. At the centre of it all is Nanu Gupta (Founder, Vijay Sales), who came to Mumbai with ₹50 in his pocket and built the business without a blueprint, and made decisions most founders wouldn’t dare to take, including walking away from top brands and putting consumer trust above everything else. This episode breaks down how those choices quietly compounded into scale. If you’re building a consumer brand, retail business, or D2C startup, this episode gives you a clear look at what it actually takes to build something that lasts.

People in this episode

Host: Shantanu Deshpande

Guest: Nilesh Gupta

Topics covered

• retail
• entrepreneurship
• consumer trust
• business strategy
• offline vs online
• D2C startup

Keywords

• Vijay Sales
• retail empire
• consumer brand
• business decisions
• EMI psychology
• offline retail
• entrepreneurship

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Vijay Sales, Bombay Shaving Company, Amazon, Flipkart

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