As qualified in the title itself, this is a review about Cotton World Corp(CWC) - one of the retail outlets in DT City Center Mall Gurgaon.
Gurgaon - The City of Dust - is also a city of malls. DT City Center, located on M.G Road, (Currently the 5th mall in order of enterance from New Delhi) was the 1st mall to come up here. I had the rare honour of watching the start of its construction way back in 2002, and of course the dust associated with its construction.
Cotton World was one of the first outlet to have opened up in DT City Center, in 2003. Bordering Lifestyle, it provided tough competition to all the garment retails of Lifestyle. The outlet was(and most likely still is) owned by Ex-cricketer Nikhil Chopra. Since I have been a regular visitor to the outlet over the last 4 years, I thought its time for me to review it for interested MSIans.
So heres’ my take:
Range / Variety (8/10): It sells a huge variety of dresses - all made out of cotton fabric. Hence men, women, teenagers and infants have all some reason to be happy while walking down its corridors. I have seen traditional as well as contemporary clothes there all the time. Some of the designs can be classified as an amalgamation of tradition and modernity - for example men’s tops with a kurta like neck. Women also find a lot of variety to try out, test, re-test, and again re-test and buy. Personally, I have not found better Khakis anywhere in the world.
Quality (8/10): Since a couple of my trousers are nearly as old as the outlet, I can write with authority here. The quality of fabric used is very good. Neither has the color faded with time nor has the cloth weakened despite being used regularly. Yes, I do doubt that some of my trousers have shrunk by say 5% in diameter, but as per my wife that is courtsey the increase in the girth of my tummy - so I give it a benefit of doubt. Although the quality of thread used for stitching the stuff is of a poor quality. The ends of the stitch have been getting loose regularly, across the dozens of CWC clothes I have in my wardrobe by now.
Price (9.5/10): The stuff has been good value for money spent based upon my experience. Some of the Men’s shirts start from Rs 599 odd and are of good quality. Their Allen Solly or Color Plus counterparts will cost approximately twice, for the same stuff. I can not comment of Women’s stuff so much, but my wife has also been satisfied with the value of money for her buys. Mind you, she knows the value of money better than me.
Ambience(7/10): Although not as important as the above 3 factors, it is quite "Mall Like". I am not sure how many would lift up their heads to look at its roof, but those who do find that there are just cool air ducts and no finish. If that helps reduce price of some of the clothes, I would welcome the same. The lighting is good enough to let you have a look at the actual colour and the fabric of whatever you purchase.
Other Factors(7.5/10): The staff are friendly, if you need them. Most of the trials etc are managed by the prospective spenders. It could be although a challange in terms of time if one needs an alteration done. In other outlets this is an exercise that can be completed in 15 minutes to an hour, but at CWC it might not be ready until the next day(Experience speaks). Besides, if you pick up something on sale, no alterations are done. One can buy the stuff and get it altered by the local tailor master.
But Mind you: since this is Cotton World, better limit yourself to cotton stuff. They have a bad habit of selling wollens when winter nears. Do not go for it, as that is not their speciality. They keep it just to ensure that their business does not have to hibernate during winters.
If you look at my ratings against every head you would get the overall impression that I wish to convey.
Those who have been there can share their experience while those who haven’t may wish to have a look once. Happy Shopping!