In George Town, trades have a vice-like grip on streets, owning them to the point of suffocation. Every street name board bears an unwritten promise to meet an overwhelming existential need. If bags are your ticket to retail therapy, head to Stringer Street. Seeking to announce a new life chapter with the printing of a wedding card? Anderson Street holds out an invitation to you to visit it. Want to indulge your sartorial addiction? Saunter into Godown Street. Looking to be stocked up on rainwear ahead of the monsoon? No pat answer there; that requires the directory of George Town to be consulted.
Rainwear shopping in George Town is spatially undefined, but George Town is the best place in town to scour for it. Wholesalers and retailers of raincoats and umbrellas and woollen winterwear (you read that right, exclusive winter wear shopping in Chennai) are scattered across the landscape, a good number of them concentrated on streets close to the Flower Bazaar Area. Here is a representative sample of shops, the list a mile away from being exhaustive. They are found on NSC Bose Road, separated by shops ruled by other trades. Notables out there include Ebrahim Currim & Sons, the iconic manufacturer and seller of Stag umbrellas, and MS Rahim Stores known for raincoats. On Malayaperumal Street, New Jothi Stores.. On Mangammal Street in the Seven Wells area of George Town area, there is Hindustan Industries. On Rattan Bazaar Road, there is Joonus Sait & Sons whose repertoire includes woollen winterwear.
And besides the shops, roadside vendors in George Town retail umbrellas and pocket-friendly raincoats once the monsoon gets active.
Sale of umbrellas at a shop on NSC Bose Road in George Town. A file photo.
The term “raingear” presupposes seasonality, and the enterprises, both wholesale and retail, pair them with an all-season product or two to keep the cash register ringing through the year.
On Malayaperumal Street, New Jothi Stores LLP does this kind of pairing to stay afloat on a non-rainy day. The product line reads: bags, luggages, raincoats and umbrellas. The enterprise was established in 1968 by Hajji Jamal Mohideen, who handed over the baton to his sons, Hajji Ajmal Khan and Hajji Mujibur Rahman. And the baton is now lodged with the founder’s grandsons, Muhammed Mohideen and his cousin Muhammed Sirajudeen. The store at George Town boasts massive square-footage, and is present in other locations, not as outlets but manufacturing units. There is a unit in Mint Street, another in Athipet and two others in Maharashtra, each one dedicated to the manufacture of a specific product. In addition, there is sourcing from elsewhere which includes importing.
The shelves at New Jothi Stores offer a glimpse of what happens when necessity meets a little imagination. From traditional umbrellas to reversible ones, torchlight umbrellas and designs that change colour when wet, the shop’s promise of variety takes centre stage, and sometimes this promise gets amplified on social media by influencers. While the bags and luggage segment is on an even keel through the year, the one involving raincoats and umbrellas wax and wane depending on the monsoon and its intensity. Copious rains means brisk business; weak monsoon means a sluggish cash counter. But New Jothi Stores does not chase only the North East Monsoon for business but the South West Monsoon as well. As a wholesaler, it brings Kerala and Karnataka into the picture, supplying raincoats and umbrellas to retailers out there, and what emerges is a semblance of an all-year business.
Besides, with a touch of creativity and customisation, a seasonal project such as the umbrella is made attractive when the skies are clear. Mohideen points out that umbrellas made in the colours of a political party are a hit through the year. So, there are umbrellas that cover all parties on the political spectrum, enabling party cadres to display their allegiance. MLAs place orders for these umbrellas representing their party colours and with their names printed on them, notes Mohideen
Where ‘winter’ never ends
All through the year, winter hovers over one address at Rattan Bazaar Road in George Town. Joonus Sait & Sons, established in 1905, sells rainwear and woollen winterwear in good old, often searing-hot Chennai, operating in bustling Rattan Bazaar. The patriarch of the family, Usman Sait defends the decision taken by his forbear several “winters” ago and followed by successive generations. The winterwear is not just for those navigating a narrow band of winter months in Chennai, but also for those travelling abroad to coordinates where winter defines the climate more than any other season. In a globalised economy, a massive number of people go abroad for studies and work and vacations (and of course, there are also cooler places in India to travel to), remarks Usman, and they know “there is a Joonus Sait & Sons”. That confidence bordering on chutzpah has worked for the family and the business, which has put out branches, one in Purasaiwalkam and another in Adyar. Usman manages the legacy enterprise with the support of his wife Zulekha and sons Naumaan Sait and Safwaan Sait.
Sale of raincoats at Joonus Sait & Sons on Rattan Bazaar Road in George Town. A file photo.
The enterprise’s service extends to helping customers choose according to their destination and travel duration and also educating them on preserving the items. Bulk order for corporate clients is a strong feature of the business.
When it was established in 1905, the business began with rayon, silks and judges’ gown before woollens and rainwear became its defining trade. Its woollen wear, including brands such as Monte Carlo, are sourced from Ludhiana. For Usman, the store is also a childhood memory. He recalls accompanying his father after school, wondering why he had to spend the afternoon there. The lessons he absorbed, however, became his own principles, passed down to his sons. His father’s advice remains the family’s compass: “if you are honest to the customer, the customer will come back to you.”
Legacy is the operative word. Usman speaks wistfully of the golden days when his father was his mentor in the trade. He speaks with equal fondness of the here and now, with a special softness reserved for his four granddaughters, who visit the store and learn the business from him. He adds that they will take the legacy forward. Usman’s son Naumaan notes that the enterprise treats every client as a part of the legacy.
Published – October 11, 2026 12:05 pm IST
