Joonus Sait & Sons celebrates 120 years as Chennai’s iconic winterwear and rainwear store

(*120*)The irony is unimaginable to overlook. Outside, the Chennai solar blazes with its traditional fury. Inside Joonus Sait & Sons, neat stacks of woollen sweaters, cardigans, and thermal put on line the cabinets. For 120 years, the store has been an unlikely fixture in Madras — a spot the place generations of households have come, not for the climate exterior their doorways, however for the journeys past them.

(*120*)“The store was started by my grandfather’s grandfather Hajee Abbas Yunus Sait, who was called Joonus Sait because the Anglo-Indian name for Yunus is Joonus. He was doing business in Bellari, Karnataka in the 1900s, but when cholera broke out, he migrated to Madras and began a rayon silk business,” says Nauman Sait, the fifth technology co-owner of Joonus Sait & Sons. He runs the store alongside along with his brother Safwaan Sait. 

(*120*)The second technology proprietor and Yunus Sait’s son, Usman Sait, quickly noticed a distinct segment that may outline the household’s legacy. “He slowly introduced balls of woollen yarn because he saw that the British started to knit their sweaters when they were preparing to sail back. That caught his eye, and from there, he started winter wear,” remembers Nauman. In a metropolis the place temperatures hardly ever dipped low sufficient for a sweater, the concept appeared audacious. But it labored, as a result of metropolis dwellers travelled to Ooty, Kodaikanal, Shimla, and later, overseas as time glided by. 

(*120*)By the mid-Twentieth century, the store had turn into greater than a wool store. Nauman’s grandfather, Ibrahim Sait, expanded into tailoring and introduced the textile model Raymond to Chennai. “He introduced shirts and trousers at a time when everyone was still in veshtis and lungis,” says Nauman with delight. 

(*120*)Through the Sixties and Seventies, the store grew to become a part of the town’s institutional cloth. “My grandfather introduced capes for High Court judges, and we also supplied blazers to universities,” says Nauman. Rainwear adopted go well with. “He brought rainwear brand Duckback from West Bengal to Madras. Those old raincoats used to weigh a kilogram or two, and people had to sprinkle talcum powder inside while storing it away for the dry season. But everyone bought them because it was high quality,” he laughs. 

(*120*)Over the years, Joonus Sait & Sons constructed its repute on loyalty slightly than flash. “We are not brand-conscious people. People come back because of trust. Some customers even say they treat shopping with us before a trip as a lucky charm,” Nauman notes. That loyalty typically stretches throughout generations.

(*120*)Despite the rise of e-commerce and worldwide manufacturers, the Saits imagine in retaining the in-store expertise central. “We want the customer to come in, spend quality time, and we make sure to educate them. More than the sale, what matters is if I educate one person, he will tell ten others. That’s my business,” says Nauman. 

(*120*)Now in its fifth technology, the household is considering forward. Nauman’s daughters symbolize the sixth. “If my daughter can one day walk into the store and pick up something for herself before travelling to a cold place, then my job is done. It means that we have kept up with the trends,” he says, including that some day he hopes his daughters will take the household enterprise forward.

(*120*)Joonus Sait & Sons has remained a continuing, a reminder that the town’s spirit lies as a lot in loyalty and custom as in change. 

(*120*)Joonus Sait & Sons has three branches in Chennai at Adyar, Parrys and Purasawalkam.

Published – September 03, 2025 05:26 pm IST